Tuin, Groenaanleg

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

The GREEN LAYOUT WITH PLAYGROUNDS in Tuindorp Frankendael were designed in 1949 by Mien Ruys and Aldo van Eyck respectively on commission of the Green Infrastructure Department. The green plan is an essential component of the Jerusalem experiment. It concerns the courtyards within the building blocks, the connecting greenery along the major roads and edges of the garden village and the green layout at the corners of the building blocks. Mien Ruys's design for the courtyards is still readily recognisable today, even though the green layout has become more sparse. She created a basic design with important, recurring elements of geometric forms with truncated corners, diagonal lines, a playground in the dense and thus most sheltered corner of the courtyards and a quiet seating area in the other corner where one entered the courtyard. A diagonal path always leads to both places. This brings the necessary variation to the rectangular courtyard and visually creates a greater sense of space. Hedges, shrubs and perennials varied from courtyard to courtyard and separate the public space from the private gardens. The variation is also seen in various trees placed individually on the lawn and areas of corners accentuated with perennials. According to her design drawing, many birches were planned on the lawn and maples along the road. The marked hedge strip at the playground was not realised, as evidenced by photographs taken immediately after construction. It is a design in which the unity and simplicity of the urban planning concept and the architectural execution in the landscape is continued and yet subtle variation is introduced, whereby monotony is avoided.

Description

Typical for the GREEN LAYOUT in post-war neighbourhoods is the subtle transition from main green structure to street greenery, to the semi-public greenery of the courtyards, to the private greenery of the front and back gardens. This green flow from large to small is still recognisable in Jerusalem. The main green structure is in good condition, the green layout in the courtyards is still recognisable, but somewhat neglected. The courtyard on the Bakhuys Roozeboomstraat is still the most in the original state.

The protection concerns: - the courtyards within the L-shaped building blocks on the F.C.Dondersstraat, Eijkmanstraat, Minckelersstraat, Snelliusstraat, Bakhuys Roozeboomstraat and Daltonstraat;

- the green layout along the Hugo de Vrieslaan, P. Zeemanlaan, Van 't Hofflaan and Maxwellstraat;

- the green layout around the former Prof. P. Zeemanschool.

The PLAYGROUNDS were designed by architect Aldo van Eyck. They are simple and geometric in conception: small rectangular spaces with a concrete sandpit with rounded corners and one or more climbing frames. A small bench for parents was placed at the side. Van Eyck wanted to place his playgrounds openly in space and this was well possible in the inner courtyards of Tuindorp Frankendael. They were paved with square tiles. With a simple design he wanted to stimulate children's imagination. In the city centre he designed the playgrounds as intermediary spaces so that they seemed to fit naturally into the urban structure and each received its own unique form and layout (site specific). The child received a recognisable place in the city with his designs. From 1947 onwards he eventually designed more than 800 throughout the city. The playgrounds in Tuindorp Frankendael are part of the green layout of the courtyards. They are now (2009) only partly preserved: still partly present on the Dondersstraat and the Daltonstraat, substantially altered on the De Sitterstraat and the Bakhuys Roozeboomstraat, but disappeared on the Fibigerstraat, Minckelerstraat, the Snelliusstraat and the Eyckmanstraat.

Valuation

The GREEN LAYOUT WITH PLAYGROUNDS forms an essential part of Tuindorp Frankendael and acts as a green underlay connecting the various components of this important post-war neighbourhood. The green character is one of the main features of the neighbourhood. The playgrounds are an important part of the design and use of the courtyards, but no longer intact. However, because they were designed integrally with the neighbourhood and were part of the important collaboration between the various design disciplines, which makes Jerusalem unique, the remains of them are also protected. The green layout with (remains of) playgrounds represents the general interest and has cultural-historical value, ensemble value and architectural and urban planning-historical value. It is -with the exception of a number of playgrounds- an intact, early and recognisable example of a green layout that is part of an early post-war neighbourhood.