50 projects by female architects for the Dutch city on the Maas: the new book ‘Buildings by Women. Rotterdam’ from nai010 publishers highlights the contribution women have made to Rotterdam.
Text: Anneke Bokern
Clubhouse Boompjes, Dojanne Vermeulen, photo: Loes van Duijvendijk
Word has spread that Rotterdam is a worthwhile destination for architectural walks. However, it is less well known that among all the remarkable buildings in the city, there are many that were designed or significantly co-designed by women. As in many places, the names of female architects in the Netherlands often take a back seat to those of their male colleagues.
New role models
The book `Buildings by Women´ (which has the much more melodious title `Gebouwen door Vrouwen´ in Dutch) aims to change that. It is part of an initiative by young architect and curator Sofie van Brunschot, whose goal is to make the influence of female architects on the built environment more visible and thus create new role models. In addition to architectural tours, which take place during Rotterdam Architecture Month, for example, and an online database, this book is another building block of the project.
Parkhuis Santos, Karin Renner, Karin Wolf, photo: Loes van Duijvendijk
50 projects
This colourful A5-format volume presents a total of 50 buildings designed by female architects across 288 pages. However, anyone expecting all of the projects to come from firms run exclusively by women will be disappointed. Many of the projects featured come from firms such as OMA and MVRDV, where women hold senior positions. However, while names such as Rem Koolhaas and Winy Maas are widely known, Ellen van Loon (formerly OMA), Fokke Moerel and Natalie de Vries (MVRDV) usually remain in the shadow of their male partners. This is where ‘Buildings by Women’ comes in – although one might wonder whether the focus on individual female architects as the creators of buildings is not outdated. Haven't we all agreed by now that architecture is a team effort involving the entire office? Paradoxically, this cult of personality gives the book a somewhat anachronistic flavour.
Cafe Marseille, Alexandra Sonnemans, photo: Loes van Duijvendijk
Pioneers in a man's world
And yet it is worth reading. In the introduction, for example, we learn that the first female architect in the Netherlands, Gerarda Wolffensperger, received her degree from Delft University of Technology in 1917. As van Brunschot notes, more than a hundred years later, there are still only 10 women's portraits in the university's hall of fame, compared to 89 men's, and only 24% of architects registered in the Netherlands are female.
RVS Flat, Wilhelmina Jansen, photo: Loes van Duijvendijk
Rotterdam architectural history
The introduction is followed by 50 project profiles that shed light on Rotterdam's architectural history from different perspectives – from established names to younger talents, from interiors to infrastructure buildings to urban development projects. Each building is described in Dutch and English, supplemented by several photographs. A city map in the cover flaps lists all the locations.
Zonnetrap, Luzia Hartsuyker-Curjel, photo: Loes van Duijvendijk
Housing construction and futuristic cities
The project texts are interspersed with portraits of prominent female architects, including Francine Houben (Mecanoo) and Marja Haring (Municipality of Rotterdam), as well as Bauhaus student Lotte Stam-Beese, who married Dutchman Mart Stam in 1934 and designed entire urban expansions in Rotterdam in the post-war period (long after her divorce). For many, Luzia Hartsuyker-Curjel is likely to be another discovery. Born in Karlsruhe, she emigrated to Switzerland with her parents in the 1930s, where she met Dutchman Enrico Hartsuyker at ETH Zurich. Together they moved to the Netherlands, where Luzia was already designing innovative, ‘women-friendly’ apartments in the 1980s. The Hartsuykers' most important work in Rotterdam was the De Zonnetrap retirement home – a smaller version of their utopia for a futuristic new city in the North Sea called Biopolis.
The View, Joke Vos, photo: Loes van Duijvendijk
Change of perspective
The book concludes with an essay by Catja Edens, which adds an international perspective and examines why female architects from Eileen Gray to Alison Smithson usually had to either work with a male partner or take a detour via product or interior design in order to make their mark in the world of architecture. Overall, the booklet is a wonderful companion if you want to experience Rotterdam from a different perspective. It highlights the contribution female architects have made to the city – and invites you to see familiar and unfamiliar places with new eyes.
Sofie van Brunschot, Catja Edens, Laurence Ostyn, Erica Smeets-Klokgieters, “Buildings by Women: R’dam”, 288 pages, design: Saskia van der Meer, photographs: Loes van Duijvendijk, nai010 publishers, Rotterdam 2025, ISBN 978-94-6208-933-4
