101 Highlights from the NAI collection
One hundred and one unique, poignant, valuable, striking, influential, everyday, erudite, personal, gripping and ordinary objects from the collection of the Netherlands Architecture Institute.
A treasure trove of Dutch architecture
The Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) acquires and manages archives encompassing all areas of Dutch architecture. This site offers you an overview of the Institute’s rich and specialised collection, which can rightfully be called a treasure trove of Dutch architecture. More than one hundred pieces from the collection are featured – drawings, models, books and photographs selected on the basis of their particular beauty or rarity. Important and ground-breaking theoretical construction projects are discussed alongside books with tips for designing your home. This cross-section of the collection offers you an overview of two hundred years of architecture in the Netherlands.
The site structure
This site provides different ways to search through 101 objects from the NAI collection. First of all, you can search by design scale. The designs vary from furniture to building layouts to urban development plans and rural landscape design. If you want to use this search method, start at the Interior Design, Architecture, Urban Development and Landscaping sections. Secondly, another category has been devised based on ideology – after all, every design is founded on an idea from, for instance, the designer, the client or society as a whole. The ideological background of a design is divided into following sections: Restoration, Conservation, Innovation and Transformation. If you are interested in theories and ideas, then you can search in these sections. This does not mean that objects in particular sections cannot overlap with others, or that the themes discussed for a particular work are the dominant ones. It does, however, give you a bird’s-eye view of two hundred years of Dutch architecture.
Design scale
Roughly four design scales can be distinguished in the built-up environment: Interior Design, Architecture, Urban Development and Landscape. The smallest of these is the intimate world of Interior Design. The NAI has countless objects that illustrate, for example, how living rooms and shops were laid out in the Netherlands, and which revolutionary furniture designs have been created in the last two hundred years. The Architecture section shows several fascinating examples of designs for entire buildings. Urban Development presents objects from the collection of buildings within the context of urban planning. These include designs for cities but also for road construction within these cities. The last section is Landscape, one that is also open to broad interpretation. Whether the design of a land consolidation scheme, a structural plan, park and garden landscaping or the construction of sluice gates, everything is included.
Ideology
The built-up environment in which you live is often based on a certain idea. Architects, town planners and landscape designers, as well as employers and project developers, are people who wish to create a new, different or better world, or who are dedicated to restoring cities to their former glory. In many cases, the architecture reflects their ideas.
The Restoration section includes works from the collection that are characterised by a revival of an earlier architectural form or the restoration of its former glory. In the Conservation section, the current situation is paramount. Changes are few, daily life goes on, comfort is found in familiarity. Those works that fall under Innovation illustrate the pursuit of a new form of architecture. There is a need to create anew or change the design and realisation of architecture, cities and landscapes. Transformation is Innovation magnified ten times over and involves innovative projects in their most extreme forms. The works on display have a strong utopian connotation or a pronounced avant-garde character.
‘Type and search’ means that you can type a word, name, year or other keyword and the search engine will search and locate all the relevant texts and metadata before presenting a list of records. Just click on the title you want to see and the record will appear.
A treasure trove of Dutch architecture
The Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) acquires and manages archives encompassing all areas of Dutch architecture. This site offers you an overview of the Institute’s rich and specialised collection, which can rightfully be called a treasure trove of Dutch architecture. More than one hundred pieces from the collection are featured – drawings, models, books and photographs selected on the basis of their particular beauty or rarity. Important and ground-breaking theoretical construction projects are discussed alongside books with tips for designing your home. This cross-section of the collection offers you an overview of two hundred years of architecture in the Netherlands.
The site structure
This site provides different ways to search through 101 objects from the NAI collection. First of all, you can search by design scale. The designs vary from furniture to building layouts to urban development plans and rural landscape design. If you want to use this search method, start at the Interior Design, Architecture, Urban Development and Landscaping sections. Secondly, another category has been devised based on ideology – after all, every design is founded on an idea from, for instance, the designer, the client or society as a whole. The ideological background of a design is divided into following sections: Restoration, Conservation, Innovation and Transformation. If you are interested in theories and ideas, then you can search in these sections. This does not mean that objects in particular sections cannot overlap with others, or that the themes discussed for a particular work are the dominant ones. It does, however, give you a bird’s-eye view of two hundred years of Dutch architecture.
Design scale
Roughly four design scales can be distinguished in the built-up environment: Interior Design, Architecture, Urban Development and Landscape. The smallest of these is the intimate world of Interior Design. The NAI has countless objects that illustrate, for example, how living rooms and shops were laid out in the Netherlands, and which revolutionary furniture designs have been created in the last two hundred years. The Architecture section shows several fascinating examples of designs for entire buildings. Urban Development presents objects from the collection of buildings within the context of urban planning. These include designs for cities but also for road construction within these cities. The last section is Landscape, one that is also open to broad interpretation. Whether the design of a land consolidation scheme, a structural plan, park and garden landscaping or the construction of sluice gates, everything is included.
Ideology
The built-up environment in which you live is often based on a certain idea. Architects, town planners and landscape designers, as well as employers and project developers, are people who wish to create a new, different or better world, or who are dedicated to restoring cities to their former glory. In many cases, the architecture reflects their ideas.
The Restoration section includes works from the collection that are characterised by a revival of an earlier architectural form or the restoration of its former glory. In the Conservation section, the current situation is paramount. Changes are few, daily life goes on, comfort is found in familiarity. Those works that fall under Innovation illustrate the pursuit of a new form of architecture. There is a need to create anew or change the design and realisation of architecture, cities and landscapes. Transformation is Innovation magnified ten times over and involves innovative projects in their most extreme forms. The works on display have a strong utopian connotation or a pronounced avant-garde character.
‘Type and search’ means that you can type a word, name, year or other keyword and the search engine will search and locate all the relevant texts and metadata before presenting a list of records. Just click on the title you want to see and the record will appear.
‘Select’ provides a number of options that are included in the works’ metadata together with a description. You can choose one and after clicking on it, a list of hits will appear and you can select one.
‘Associate’ in the red bar gives the terms and characteristics that are included in the works’ metadata. Choose a term, click on it and a list of hits will appear.