Architecture as civilizing ideal - The inspired modernism of A.H. Wegerif Ahazuerus Hendrikus (Henk) Wegerif was born in Apeldoorn on 13th of April 1888, the son of Gerrit Wegerif and Elsje Breman. Both his father and grandfather were building contractors, as was his paternal uncle, Chris Wegerif. This versatile man in particular had a great influence on Henk Wegerif’s spiritual development. Around 1900, Chris Wegerif, co-founder of the Hague art shop ‘Arts and Crafts’, and his wife Agathe Gravestein maintained close relations with a variety of artists, both from Holland and abroad. The cabins in Frederik van Eeden’s artists’ colony ‘Walden’ were built by Chris Wegerif, and Lauweriks, Toorop, Thorn Prikker, Lebeau, De Bazel, Van der Sluys and Behrens frequented Wegerif’s private house in Apeldoorn. The first works by Henk Wegerif reveal the influence of his uncle, who built several distinctive villas in Apeldoorn and The Hague. After finishing elementary school, Henk Wegerif was apprenticed to his father and designed his first house in 1906, called ‘De Klaproos’. Intended as a working class show house, it proved out of reach for that section of the population as a result of high construction costs. During these years he gained further experience at several architectural firms in Holland, followed in 1908 by an apprenticeship in the firm of the New York architect William A. Bates, designer of villas and country houses in the outskirts of the city. Back in Holland, Wegerif was employed at his father’s firm of contractors: however after a conflict with a building supervisor he decided to start his own architectural practice. He also joined ‘Architectura et Amicitia’ and represented the organisation at the first Town Planning Conference of the R.I.B.A in London in 1910. At the age of twenty-one Wegerif was admitted to the Order of Freemasons, a movement that would exercise a great influence on his life and work. He also enrolled as a student of the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, but the rapid expansion of his firm kept him from finishing his studies. Between 1910 and 1925, Wegerif, living in his studio home built in 1911 on the Apeldoorn Oranjepark, realised almost three hundred works, an average of twenty a year. His commissions mainly consisted of dwellings: apart from the detached houses commissioned and built by his father, acting as a real estate developer, Wegerif designed villas and country houses in various towns throughout the country. His designs for show houses for the working classes resulted in commissions for housing estates in Doetinchem, Apeldoorn and Hattem, some of which were published in Berlage’s publication Arbeiderswoningen in Nederland. New building types, such as the first ‘scattered home’ in The Netherlands, built in Hilversum, were also designed by Wegerif. From his first brief onwards, Wegerif would often cooperate with a variety of artists and landscape architects. His interest in rational construction methods manifested itself in a range of joint ventures, one of which proved particularly successful: Technisch Bureau Ties Kruize. In this partnership Wegerif, together with the Delft professor ir. Chr. K. Visser, ir. M.C.A. Meischke, and his own brother-in-law Ties Kruize, developed ‘normalized homes for the middle classes’, built against guaranteed quality and price throughout the country, not only in the form of detached and semi-detached houses, but also in multi-storey blocks. In co-operation with the architects Janzen and Rood, Wegerif also designed a differentiated urban plan, intended as a solution for the housing shortage of the early twenties. Despite the efforts of a corporation, founded with the express intention to build these so-called ‘parkwoningen’, this plan was never executed. Through his articles in various journals, Wegerif became a well-known figure in the field of architecture and urbanism. As a result he was asked to write a paper for the Eerste Nederlandsche Wegencongres (First Dutch Roads Congress), held in The Hague in 1920. In his contribution he addressed the issue of the spatial design of roads in the existing landscape, a theme that would be integrated in the design process only decades later. In the same year, he also committed himself to the Derde Heemschutconferentie (Third Conference of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings), where he gave a speech on the importance of architecture in the construction of factories. From 1916 onwards, Wegerif was involved in the design of factories and would continue to do so throughout his career. In addition to Wat men moet weten vóór men gaat bouwen (1916), Wegerif published Bouw van Middenstandswoningen in 1919 and Van Bouwen en Wonen in 1924; all of which were received favourably by professional circles. These books reveal the influence of William Morris and Hermann Muthesius, but also of Peter Behrens, Raymond Unwin and others on his ideas. In 1925, Wegerif and his family – he had a son and a daughter by this time – moved to Wassenaar, where he built a controversial villa in the dunes of Rijksdorp. He also obtained the brief for the villa and offices of the real estate developer and owner of Rijksdorp and became supervisor of this villa park. Around 1930, Wegerif came into contact with Dr. H.P. Heineken, who commissioned a holiday home to be built on top of the highest dune of Noordwijk, followed by the designs for four villas in 1940 and the sweeping refurbishment of ‘De Ark’ in 1955, on behalf of his son, A.H. Heineken. In 1932, Wegerif also designed a villa for ir. W.H. van Leeuwen, the director of de Delftse Gist- en Spiritusfabriek (Delft Factory for Yeast and Methylated Spirits). Named ‘Solheim’, this house became a true example of a Gesamtkunstwerk through an extreme attention to materials, colours and details. In the same year, the new building for the Delftsche Huishoud- en Industrieschool (Delft School for Domestic Science and Industry) in Agnetapark was completed. Incorporated in this new building was the old villa ‘Rust Roest’, built in the nineteenth century by the first Delft professor of Architecture, Eugen Gugel. Wegerif also acted as the permanent architect of the Chamotte-Unie (Fireclay Union) in Geldermalsen. For this company he designed production facilities, laboratories and other buildings and idiosyncratic country houses for the directors. The residential hotel ‘Willemspark’, typical of The Hague, is Wegerif’s largest and most famous project. Built in 1930 on the corner of Zeestraat and Javastraat, this design was noted for its construction method. With spacious apartments of up to 450 square metres, its high level of finishing and its service package, ‘Willemspark’ was the apogee of luxurious living in the inter-war years. The construction of the building was documented in the film ‘Torenbouw’, shown at the Filmliga in the early thirties. His longstanding commitment to the cremation movement was the reason that Wegerif was commissioned at this time to build the second funerary urn garden in The Netherlands. This garden, part of the existing cemetery ‘Nieuw Eikenduinen’ in The Hague, was put into use in 1936, along with a new assembly hall, that impresses to the present day because of its remarkable routing. As an advocate for cremation, he was also assigned to build the third crematorium of The Netherlands, beautifully situated in the outskirts of Groningen, opened in 1963. Buildings, and dwellings in particular, are the tangible legacy of his way of thinking, but his efforts in other fields are equally noteworthy. For twenty years, from 1933 to 1953, Wegerif was involved as art director in the Dutch film industry. Starting with ‘Willem van Oranje’, the first Dutch talkie, he was involved in almost all film productions. To prepare for this new line of activity and become familiar with the peculiarities of filming, he spent some weeks in Paris and London in 1932. Wegerif also maintained good relations with other architects such as Berlage, Roosenburg, Wils and others, and he played an active role in various professional associations in the field of architecture, art and film. He was a board member of the Raad voor de Kunst (Arts Council), and fostered the formation of the Federatie van Beroepsverenigingen van Kunstenaars (Federation of Professional Associations of Artists). He also acted as chair of the Haagse Kunstkring (Hague Art Society) between 1938 and 1942. The archives of this artists’ association bear witness to his great influence on the professionalization of the management: an important factor in safeguarding the viability of the Kunstkring. Together with Jac. Bot, Jan Kalf and Willem Sandberg, Wegerif in 1945 also participated in the Ereraad voor de architectuur en toegepaste kunst (Honorary Council for Architecture and Applied Arts), the commission that was installed to review the conduct of architects and practitioners of the applied arts during the German occupation. Shortly before the Second World War, Wegerif was one of the founders of the Stichting Saneering Binnenstad ‘s-Gravenhage (Foundation for the Redevelopment of the Inner City of The Hague). This foundation had its origins in the discontent over the dilapidation of a section of the inner city, and proposed an urban development plan for the area between Spui and the former Staatsspoor Station in 1941. This location constitutes one of the most contentious parts of the city up to the present day, and harbours, among other functions, a number of government departments. The initiative did not result in a positive reaction by the municipality, and the foundation was dissolved a few years later. After the Second World War, Wegerif again participated in a planning initiative on an urban scale, this time aimed at the redevelopment of the area that today houses the International Court of Justice. Along with D. Roosenburg, J.M. Luthmann, G.A. Abspoel and R. de Vries, Wegerif participated in the Raad van Vijf (Council of Five), installed by the Dutch Association of Architects with the intention to further the cause of the reconstruction of The Hague after the devastation of the war. This endeavour was smothered in municipal indifference, if not veiled opposition. In the early nineteen fifties, however, he was successful in the field of urbanism in the city of Gorinchem, where he acted as municipal supervisor for some years, and, in addition to dwellings, built a church in 1952. Like many other artists and architects of his generation, Wegerif took a keen interest in a philosophy that sought to transcend the purely material. As mentioned earlier, he joined the Order of Freemasons as soon as he reached the age of twenty-one. The members of this movement strove in an idealistic and practical way for personal growth through reflection on their attitudes towards life. Together with Herman Baanders and Jan Wils, he took the initiative in 1931 to found the Vereniging Tempelbouw (Temple Building Society) as a society within the Freemasonry. Rooted in dissatisfaction with the design of the Masonic Lodges, it aspired ‘to serve Freemasonry through art, and serve art through Freemasonry’. Through a host of recommendations and reviews, generated during the thirties, Tempelbouw provided a major contribution to the innovative design of Dutch Masonic Lodges. In 1950, Wegerif founded a new Lodge in The Hague: ‘De Vlammende Ster’ (The Flaming Star), that exists today. Wegerif’s many publications speak of the significance he ascribed to architecture as ‘the most social art among the arts’. To him, this was not just another empty phrase: his interest went out to all aspects of his profession that in his view warrant this claim. Beside an interest in architecture as a product of technical considerations and the circumstances in which it originates, architecture in his opinion is above all an expression of a mindset and a progenitor of a culture. Wegerif sees the Gothic style as the result of a happy coincidence of all these aspects, leading to a rarely equalled result. In his opinion, Gothic builders were true modernists because they chose to leave the path of their predecessors. Although this particular apogee of artistic development lies centuries behind us, the possibility exists that architecture may rise to such heights again in future. Wegerif, for his part, emphatically attributes to architecture, both in his thoughts and his acts, the capacity to lead culture to a higher level: architecture, in his opinion, can act as a vehicle to achieve ‘Bildung’.