ABSTRACT
The years from 1990 to 2010 were a stimulating time for architecture in the Netherlands. The country’s Parliament enacted policies that endorsed new ideas in architecture. Ministries and institutions administered architecture policies that commanded artistic and functional qualities in architectural design, with the objective to elevate Dutch architecture and make it distinctive on the world scene.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Netherlands had a high population density, healthy economy, high demand for housing, the ability to ubdertake mass building production at relatively low cost, and improvement in the quality of architecture in the country began to gain momentum. In 1990, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas presented his ideas on alternative approaches to high-density living that comprised many different programmes in an urban context. His research and work paralleled the national social dimensions of economics, culture, and politics, and the Netherlands was an ideal proving ground to explore and realize his concepts. This concept proved to be successful in opening up further dialogues and, shortly after, both the public and politicians began to take on a new and keen interest in architecture.
The solitaire housing typology is prevalent in Amsterdam. A solitaire building is a fully detached building form, appears as an autonomous object, receives natural light from all orientations, has a voluminous urban presence on its own site, and is smaller in scale than linear blocks and high-rise towers.
