Flower District
The Flower District (Bloemenbuurt in Dutch) seems like an ordinary neighborhood in Hilversum. What not many people know is that this is the first neighborhood with social housing that was developed on behalf of a municipality. The Bloemenbuurt is named after its flower-inspired street names.
First housing complexes for workersThe housing law of 1901/1902 was intended to change the appalling and unsanitary living conditions in the Netherlands. Every municipality with more than 10,000 inhabitants was obliged to draw up an expansion plan. Architect W.M. Dudok was hired in Hilversum, among other things, to shape the expansion plans. Dudok designed simple and affordable houses for workers, which were beautiful, good and hygienic. Until 1953, twenty-nine municipal complexes were established under Dudok's leadership, of which the Bloemenbuurt was the first.
Variety in the spacesDudok has often argued that residential areas could only be turned into architecture if they were conceived as one whole. He did not design his plans street by street, but by neighborhood. Dudok spent a relatively large part of the available space on public gardens and playing fields. Through gatehouses and recessed and protruding façade walls, he alternated between open and closed streets. He promoted social cohesion with squares and courtyards; the centrally located public buildings also contributed to this. He designed the houses with small differences, but traditional. This gave the neighborhood the character of a small village.
