Corazones abiertos: Los centros cívicos de escala comunitaria de Frank van Klingeren, y el actual movimiento hacia la compartimentación

In Raumplan versus Plan Libre, Risselada et al. bring forth one of architecture’s perennial dilemmas. In Leupen’s terms, we are confronted with the radical difference that exists between archtiectural design as a compositional or distributive act. Le Corbusier’s free or hypostyle plan finds its complement in the compartmentalization of space achieved through walls, practiced by Loos.

The movement from the ‘heart of the city’ – the central theme of the 8th CIAM – to the Habitat discussed in the two subsequent congresses has led different architects to experiment with the possibilities of both approaches. In the Dutch context, two community-scale civic centers built by Frank Van Klingeren are especially relevant: De Meerpal (Dronten, 1976) and ‘t Karregat (Eindhoven, 1973). Although both buildings have been widely discussed as “open” organizations, linked to the architect’s activism, by contrast, little has been said about the transformation processes both buildings have gone through.

Both civic centers designed by Van Klingeren are undoubtedly a development of the hypostyle model; which is worth evaluating against recent developments in this same context, including the remodeling of both buildings, where the spatial organization clearly tends towards compartmentalization.