Episode 76: Jakoba Mulder
Jakoba Mulder was born on March 2, 1900 in Breda, Netherlands. Her family soon moved to Semarang, Indonesia because her father was an officer in the Royal Dutch East Indies Army. Jakoba suffered from malaria often as a child, so she and her younger sister returned to the Netherlands when Jakoba was 13 to live with family. Jakoba attended high school in Assen, Drenthe, Netherlands, and graduated in 1918. She decides to study architecture and enrolls at Technische Hoogeschool Delft (Technical College of Delft), which is Technische Universiteit Delft (Delft University of Technology) today. She was one of the first women to attend the school and graduated with a degree in architecture specializing in urban design in 1926. In 1928 she got a job at the city of Delft to help with their Zuid-Holland West regional development plan. In 1930, she applied for a job at Amsterdam’s new Urban Development Department. Since she was one of the only applicants with work experience in urban planning, she got the job. She was working with Cornelius van Eesteren and Theodoor K. van Lohuizen on the General Expansion Plan or AUP. One of her most well-known projects was the design for the 2500-acre Amsterdamse Bos or the Amsterdam Forest. The construction of the forest served as a work relief program during the Depression, and was delayed by WWII, but was finally finished in 1970. She also designed Beatrixpark in 1936, named after then-Princess Beatrix. After WWII, Cornelius and Jakoba really started executing the AUP. Jakoba came up with an alternate plan for the proposed strip housing on parallel blocks called the Frankendaal plan which created a courtyard between two L-shaped housing blocks. This plan was utilized in much of the westward expansion of Amsterdam. Jakoba also had a real heart for playgrounds. After seeing a small girl playing near her house, she worked with Aldo van Eyck to build 1000 playgrounds throughout the city of Amsterdam. In 1952, Jakoba was made the Chief Architect of Amsterdam and in 1958 she was made the head of the Urban Development Department. She continued to oversee the urban planning and growth of Amsterdam until her retirement in 1965. During retirement, she lectured on planning at the University of Amsterdam until she was 70 years old. Jakoba passed away on November 5, 1988, at 88 years old.
Caryatid: Linda Vlassenrood
Linda is a curator and program manager on urban planning. She studied architectural history at the University of Amsterdam and was the chief curator at the Netherlands Architecture Institute from 2000-2011. She is also a core member of Stad-Forum, an independent research organization that advises the city of Amsterdam on urban development. In 2011 she founded Studio Linda Vlassenrood. According to her website Linda’s goal is to involve a broader group than just insiders in the development of cities and her approach is interdisciplinary. She facilitates discussion of complex urban issues in stimulating ways, organizes multi-year and shorter programs for cultural institutions, municipalities and commercial entities. She is currently researching and writing a book on Jakoba Mulder.
References
Amsterdam. “History of the Amsterdamse Bos.” Amsterdamse Bos, 18 Mar. 2023, www.amsterdamsebos.nl/english/history.
Arias Laurino, Daniela. “Jakoba Mulder 1900-1988.” Un Día | Una Arquitecta, 20 Apr. 2015, undiaunaarquitecta.wordpress.com/2015/04/20/jakoba-mulder-1900-1988.
Backer, Anne Mieke. Mulder, Jakoba Helena (1900-1988). 16 Nov. 2017, resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/MulderKo.
Dijksterhuis, Edo. “Monument to Jakoba Mulder in ‘her’ Beatrix Park.” Het Parool, 12 Oct. 2018, www.parool.nl/nieuws/monument-voor-jakoba-mulder-in-haar-beatrixpark~bf67f210/?utm_source=link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shared_earned&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F.
Lefaivre, Liane. Ground-up City Play: Ground-up City. Netherlands, 010 Publishers, 2007.
Seražin, Helena, et al. Women’s Creativity Since the Modern Movement (1918-2018): Toward a New Perception and Reception. Založba ZRC, 2018. Google Books, www.google.com/books/edition/Women_s_Creativity_since_the_Modern_Move/Llp-DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0.
Vlassenrood, Linda. “Research : Studio Linda Vlassenrood.” Studio Linda Vlassenrood, www.lindavlassenrood.nl/research/?lang=en.
