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HSL and New-Build Ministries in The Hague (1999-2002)
Client
Ministry for Housing, Regional Development and the Environment (Government Building Agency)/Archis
Former government architect W. Patijn thought that a report made by external researchers would provide an insight into his contribution to the interplay of forces within current major projects involving the Government Building Agency. The case in question pertained to the renovation/demolition of the Ministries of Justice and the Interior (ministries referred to as a combined project when they were built in the 1960s). Their location is close to the Central Station in The Hague. Since the recent completion of De Resident urban-renewal project (which includes postmodern architecture by Michael Graves, Rob Krier and Sjoerd Soeters), the ministerial buildings, now in a totally new setting, have been depicted as alien bodies.
The government architect played a wholly different role in the design of the High Speed Train (HSL) connection between Belgium and Schiphol, a project in which he served as the chairman of a national committee that enforces regulations on the appearance of buildings.
A series of articles on new-build plans for the Ministries of Justice and the Interior in The Hague and on design issues emerging from the HSL-South route from the Dutch-Belgian border to Schiphol Airport appeared in Archis magazine. These articles represented a new form of architecture criticism, which already begins in the preparatory stages of large-scale projects with reports on decision-making processes and their consequences for the appearance of buildings and railway lines.
Coordination of content: Arjen Oosterman (Archis editorial staff) and Koos Bosma (SAG)
Researchers: Gemma Bakker and Ida Jager
Publications
Gemma Bakker, ‘Building the HSL. A report’, Archis 5 (2000), 66-75
Gemma Bakker, ‘Bridge over Hollandsch Diep’, Archis 11 (2000), 42-49
Gemma Bakker and Arjen Oosterman, ‘Bread at high speed: ambitions, tactics and prospects’, Archis 6 (2001), 41-45
Ida Jager, ‘Wytze Patijn and the function of Government Architect’, Archis 2 (2000), 51-59
Ida Jager, ‘Limits tot magic. Jo Coenen and The Hague JuBi-site’, Archis 9 (2000), 18-31
Ida Jager, ‘Richard Meier. A new player in The Hague JuBi-site’, Archis 3 (2001), 67-70
Holland Railconsult, panoramic photo showing part of the Green Heart, the Noordeinde/Hoogmadesche Polder, with HSL superimposed, 1996. Archis 8 (1996), 19-20
The second impression (1998). A double unbroken double trough grider standing on two or four columns as a viaduct or lying in a conventional embankment. Here still consisting of rails and sleepers in a bed of gravel, it was later elaborated into a track mounted directly into the concrete tray. Archis 5 (2000), 67
Aerial photo of the bastions of officialdom in the centre of The Hague (1998): the white City Hall (Richard Meier), the redevelopment ‘de Resident’ directed by Rob Krier with the brick towers of, amongst others, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (gable roofs by Michael graves, pinnacles by Soeters & Van Elsdonk) and the massive ‘solar court’ block of Jan Hoogstad’s VROM Ministry (Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment). At centre, the older twin towers of Justice and the Interior (Lucas & Niemeijer) on the JuBi-site. Archis 9 (2000), 19
Jo Coenen, Serpentine model. Variant with differentiation in the ends to the towers, a substantial reduction in height of the Ministry of Justice tower on Schedeldoekshaven and a compensating volume directly behind it. Archis 9 (2000), 28
Ida Jager: ‘Wytze Patijn seeks to establish his authority through new models for tendering and financing, and complicated design processes in which the commissioning body is largely lost from view. At the same time, the government is applying the notion of architectural quality to more and more of the Dutch territory and its buildings.’
Gemma Bakker: ‘If the face of the Netherlands is going to be subjected to a hundred-kilometer incision to construct the High Speed Line (HSL), the quality of that cut should be subjected to the highest standards.’