Architectural Models, 6: Caf�e Unie 1924/1925 by J. J. P. Oud.

Overall very good and clean. Includes a brochure of 8 pages, two double pages of the model and a structural drawing. - J. J. P. Oud (1890-1963) made his well-known contributions to modern architecture in the early twenties, while working for the Rotterdam municipal housing department. The residential quarters Oud-Mathenesse (1922) Kiefhoek (1925-29) Hoek van Holland (1924-27) in Rotterdam and his contributions to the Weissenhofsiedlung building-exhibition in Stuttgart (1927) established his name as one of the most important exponents of the 'Nieuwe Zakelijkheid' (New Objectivity). While Modernism slowly gained ground and organised itself in the CIAM (the Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne), Oud went his own way with different results and reactions. The Shell-officebuilding (1938-42) and the Congress-centre (1956-69), both in The Hague, are some of his later works. Oud's architecture of the 'Nieuwe Zakelijkheid' was a broadening of his earlier work, founded on two main influences: Berlage and Frank Lloyd Wright on the one hand and the abstract theories of De Stijl on the other. In 1916 Oud, who established himself as an independent architect in Leiden, met Theo van Doesburg. Van Doesburg shared Oud's interests in modern art and was at that time active as a painter, a poet and a journalist. In 1917 Oud got involved in setting up De Stijl (the movement) and wrote regularly for the magazine. De Stijl combined Theo van Doesburg's futurism and cubism with the theosophical theories vand abstract painting of Piet Mondrian. Important contributors were also Bart van der Leek (painting, colour theory), Jan Wils (architecture) and Robert van 't Hoff, whose Villa Henny at Huis ter Heide was the first example of the use of concrete for a residential project in Holland. Later Gerrit Rietveld joined. His furniture designs (the famous Red-Blue Chair, 1918) and Schroder-House (1924) are often considered the most important expressions of the De Sti jl-architecture. Oud tried to realize the De Stijl-principles in some of his early works: Villa Allegonda at Katwijk aan Zee (1917) in cooperation with the painter Kamer-lingh-Onnes and the holiday resort De Vonk at Noordwijkerhout (1917) in cooperation with Theo van Doesburg (staircase and tesselated floor). Later cooperation with Theo van Doesburg in the design of colourschemes for a housing block in the Rotterdam district Spangen would eventually lead to Oud's break with De Stijl. (S. 1) ISBN 9064500223