ACU-AHvE · Multiculturalism in the work of Aldo and Hannie van Eyck. Rethinking universalist notions in architecture.

Multiculturalism in the work of Aldo and Hannie van Eyck. Rethinking universalist notions in architecture.

This research explains the development of a multiculturalist discourse in European post-war architecture (50-60s). It analyses how inclusive architectural practices were born in the 1950s and the 60s, informed and inspired by anthropological texts at the time, an episode of the history of architecture which was yet to be thoroughly analysed and clarified. From today’s perspective and following current debates on multiculturalism, the interest in non-European architecture needs to be interpreted as an act of de-contextualisation and exotisation, where power relations remained unchanged. The research identifies the grammars of identity/alterity that were at play, of utmost interest for today’s society, a globalised world where multiple voices coexist. Specifically, it has focused on the work of the Dutch architects Aldo and Hannie van Eyck (1918-1999), who built their theoretical framework by merging modern architecture, prewar avant-garde and the artistic production of non-Western cultures. In order to do so, it was necessary to introduce a method that uses the Van Eyck family house as a starting point for the analysis. Inside their house, it still remains the Van Eycks’ full ethnographic and modern art collection, library, travel pictures, drawings and conference slides. The finding of the house constitutes a shifting point in the study of the Van Eycks’ thinking, a great amount of new information that this research disentangles and presents to a broader public. Overall, the research scrutinises the blending of anthropology, non-western and modern art in Aldo and Hannie van Eyck’s work in a novel way where space, inhabitants, political ideas and ways of living merge to shape a multiculturalist notion of society and architecture. The analysis of the new information casts new understandings on Van Eyck’s oeuvre and the development of a multiculturalist world-view that catalysed the transformation of European Post-War architecture, an example of open and inclusive design practices, respectful of social context and embracing differences and identity, thus of utmost academic value for society and illuminating the historical background and dynamics of current debates.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union