Pioneers in Dutch Architecture: The role of women in post-war housing innovations in the Netherlands

This article approaches post-war housing innovation in the Netherlands from a feminist perspective, shedding light on the hitherto unkown roles played by women architects. It introduces the work of Dutch women architects, some of it acknowledged at the time of its creation, some completely unknown. First, Augustine Schreuder-Gratama, one of the first female students in Delft in the 1920s, and the Women Advisory Committee (VAC) for social housing ―specifically their role as model homes exhibitions developers in the context of housing industrialisation in the 1950s, in which other organizations have been considered pioneer. Then work of Luzia Hartsuyker-Curjel from the democratization period including the second feminist wave in the 1970s and 1980s is presented. Amongst others, she proposed a ‘non-hierarchical dwelling’ based on feminist critique of the nuclear family home. Finally, the article presents the work of Ineke Hulshof in the 1990s and early 21st century ―against a background of neo-liberalism she developed projects for affordable, sustainable housing and new architectural tools to design and co-create with residents’ groups. To conclude, this article argues that their contribution to the evolution of architecture in the Netherlands is underestimated and their role in housing innovation should be better articulated as part of the architectural records.