Leendert Van Der Vlugt - Architect Responsible For The Van Nelle Factory

Architect Responsible For The Van Nelle Factory

The activities of the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office lasted only about ten years because Leendert van der Vlugt has died in 1936 (Hodgkin's disease). Shortly after the death of Jan Duiker in 1935, the Netherlands lost with Leendert van der Vlugt a second young architectural talent. Both architects had created buildings of international rank: the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam by Leendert van der Vlugt and the Zonnestraal Sanatorium in Hilversum by Jan Duiker.

Since the death of Leendert van der Vlugt, there has been a misleading attribution of his work. In all books of architectural history, credit for the design of his buildings has gone to J.A. Brinkman & L.C. van der Vlugt, (sometimes together with Mart Stam). Attributions of this kind suggest that J.A. Brinkman was the creative mind in the practice. Jacob Bakema has dealt with this question in his small book "L.C. van der Vlugt". The fact that Leendert van der Vlugt was the creative architect and not Johannes Brinkman is indicated by the following quotations from Bakema's booklet:

• Former Van Nelle director C.H. van der Leeuw: "Brinkman Jr. (Johannes Brinkman) played no part whatsoever in the design and construction of the Van Nelle Factory..." (p. 12). It is worth mentioning that Johannes Brinkman (b.1902) finished his study at the Delft University of Technology in 1931, not as an architect, but as a civil engineer. He probably had less creative ability than his father Michiel Brinkman.
• Mart Stam: "I worked in the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office as design draughtsman... I didn't much care for the curved building of the office section, but Van der Vlugt was in charge of the project... He gave the instructions..." (p. 16).
• Le Corbusier, 30 May 1936: "With the death of Van der Vlugt, modern architecture loses one of its best representatives. I am familiar with Van der Vlugt's outstanding achievement, the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam... A few years ago, I visited the Factory together with Mr van der Leeuw, the director. Later, I met Van der Vlugt at a luncheon... How many works are there in the modern world that can rival the Van Nelle Factory?... The fact that we shall not see him (Van der Vlugt) any more and shall no longer witness the development of his outstanding talent is extremely regrettable..." (p. 17).

To eliminate any misunderstandings about who was responsible for the design work, Leendert van der Vlugt's name should be placed first. The attribution of responsibility for the design of the Van Nelle Factory, for example, could be formulated as follows:

Leendert van der Vlugt (and Mart Stam) of Brinkman & Van der Vlugt Architects; or

Leendert van der Vlugt (Brinkman & Van der Vlugt)