Leiden University Student Repository

Bakker, Yentl (2025)

Concrete Living: The architecture of Everyday Life in Betondorp

Bachelor thesis | Kunstgeschiedenis (BA)

In this essay, Bakker explores Betondorp, an iconic pre-war social housing project in Amsterdam, conceived in the ethos of socialist idealism and architectural reform. Designed as a functional concrete experiment in affordable housing for the working class, Betondorp also embraced the green urban ideals of the Garden City movement. Its design, both interior and exterior, remains famed to this day. Yet, while much has been written about Betondorp, this essay argues that it is rarely spoken with. As such, it centers the lived experience of the first generation of residents, whose presence is often absent from the dominant narrative. Drawing on archival materials, this essay attempts a more nuanced account of Betondorp that acknowledges both its legacy as a visionary architectural experiment and its significance as a lived, everyday environment.

Functionalism, Nieuwe Bouwen, Concrete Architecture, Lived Experience, Archival Research, Garden City.

Author

Bakker, Yentl

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

AMS

Supervisors

Lauritano S.

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en