Architecture of the Netherlands in the context of "Dutch colonial architecture"

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⭐ Core Definition: Architecture of the Netherlands

Dutch architecture includes the history of architecture within the current territory of the Netherlands, thereby excluding Belgium, which is often included in the broader term "the Low Countries". The distinct character of Dutch architecture was long denied; however, the richness of architectural creation in the Netherlands from the Middle Ages to the present day proves otherwise. Up until the 19th century, architecture in the Netherlands shared significant similarities with that of Flanders, as these two regions had a common culture until the Renaissance. Nevertheless, Protestant, commercial, pastoral, and free Holland since the 17th century does not resemble Catholic, industrious Flanders, which was long subjected to foreign rule. More concretely, unlike Flemish architecture, the use of stone in construction in the Netherlands has always been limited, as it is found only in very small quantities in the territory. This scarcity pushed the Dutch to adapt to an architecture primarily based on brick, which was even used in road paving.

Although Dutch architecture cannot be reduced to a particular style, it is distinguished by its practical spirit and rejection of superfluity — a trait developed due to the unique context in which it evolved. The Netherlands is constantly threatened by the sea, which the Dutch have managed to tame through ingenuity and an innovative mindset. Élie Faure thus wrote in his Histoire de l’art (volume published in 1920) about the relationship the Dutch had with their country: "They struggled for ten centuries to seize its mud, to build upon it, to rebuild their cities that collapse into the peat bogs or that a tidal wave drowns in mud and shifting sand. Life was too hard for them, and now it is too good to live for them to seek, outside its daily aspects, the intellectual education it can offer to those who live in the freedom, idleness, and passionate excitements of southern countries, tormented either by the needs of an imagination left to itself or by the torturing will to repress its excesses."

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👉 Architecture of the Netherlands in the context of Dutch colonial architecture

Dutch colonial architecture refers to the various style of Dutch architecture built across the Dutch Empire. Though most of the buildings were designed by Dutch architects and dictated by Western architectural styles, even the most ardent style-purists among architects could not escape the forces of context and culture. Dutch colonial architecture often is a result of climatological adaptations or the use of local building materials - and more importantly, the rich and diverse cultural contexts. In this hybridity lies the quality of these buildings. Architecture shows that the strict racial taxonomy of a colonial system could not be maintained.

Dutch colonial architecture is most visible in Indonesia (especially Java and Sumatra), the United States, South Asia, and South Africa. In Indonesia, formerly Dutch East Indies, colonial architecture was studied academically and had developed into a new tropical architecture form which emphasizes on conforming to the tropical climate of the Indies and not completely imitating the architectural language of the Dutch colonists.

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Architecture of the Netherlands in the context of Dutch people

The Dutch, or Netherlanders (Dutch: Nederlanders), are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common ancestry and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Caribbean Netherlands, Curaçao, Germany, Guyana, Indonesia, New Zealand, Sint Maarten, South Africa, Suriname, and the United States. The Low Countries were situated around the border of France and the Holy Roman Empire, forming a part of their respective peripheries and the various territories of which they consisted had become virtually autonomous by the 13th century. Under the Habsburgs, the Netherlands were organised into a single administrative unit, and in the 16th and 17th centuries the Northern Netherlands gained independence from Spain as the Dutch Republic. The high degree of urbanisation characteristic of Dutch society was attained at a relatively early date. During the Republic the first series of large-scale Dutch migrations outside of Europe took place.

The traditional arts and culture of the Dutch encompasses various forms of traditional music, dances, architectural styles and clothing, some of which are globally recognisable. Internationally, Dutch painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh are held in high regard. The predominant religion among the Dutch is Christianity, encompassing both Latin Catholicism and Calvinist Protestantism. However, in contemporary times, the majority no longer adhere to a particular Christian denomination. Significant percentages of the Dutch are adherents of humanism, agnosticism, atheism or individual spirituality (including ietsism).

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Architecture of the Netherlands in the context of Petrine Baroque

Petrine Baroque (Russian: Петровское барокко) is a style of 17th and 18th century Baroque architecture and decoration favoured by Peter the Great and employed to design buildings in the newly founded Russian capital, Saint Petersburg, under this monarch and his immediate successors.

Different from contemporary Naryshkin Baroque, favoured in Moscow, the Petrine Baroque represented a dramatic departure from Byzantine traditions that had dominated Russian architecture for almost a millennium. Its chief practitioners - Domenico Trezzini, Andreas Schlüter, and Mikhail Zemtsov - drew inspiration from a rather modest Dutch, Danish, and Swedish architecture of the time.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Dutch people ← Dutch colonial architecture ← Petrine Baroque
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Beurs van Berlage → H. P. Berlage → Carambeí → Netherlands → Belgium → Low Countries → Renaissance → Catholic Church → Brick → Élie Faure →