Willem Marinus Dudok

Willem Marinus Dudok
Born	(1884-07-06)6 July 1884 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died	6 April 1974(1974-04-06) (aged 89) Hilversum, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Awards	Royal Gold Medal (1935) AIA Gold Medal (1955)
Buildings	Hilversum City Hall

Willem Marinus Dudok (6 July 1884 – 6 April 1974) was a Dutch modernist architect, best known for the brick Hilversum City Hall, completed in 1931.

Dudok was born in Amsterdam. He became City Architect for the town of Hilversum in 1928 and designed and built about 75 houses, public buildings and entire neighborhoods. Not only did he design the building, but also the interior including the carpets, furniture and even the mayor's meeting hammer.

Development

Dudok's early style grew out of the Amsterdam School but the dramatic massing, asymmetry, the overhanging eaves and other elements of his landmark Hilversum City Hall were clearly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Chicago Prairie School. Dudok continued to produce progressive, Dutch modernist structures in Hilversum for decades, through the 1960s, and had international influence. He received the RIBA Gold Medal in 1935 and the AIA Gold Medal in 1955. He also designed buildings in Paris, the Collège néerlandais in the Cité Universitaire, a cultural centre in Baghdad and a cinema in Calcutta. He died, aged 89, in Hilversum.

Works (selection)

• City Hall, Hilversum, 1928–1931
• De Bijenkorf department store, Rotterdam, 1930 (destroyed during World War II)
• Monument on Afsluitdijk, The Netherlands, 1933
• Cité Universitaire, Collège néerlandais Paris, France, 1939
• City theatre, Utrecht, 1941
• Exxon Gas stations, The Netherlands, 1953

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  Hilversum City Hall, 1928–1931

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  One of several Hilversum schools designed by Dudok

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  De Bijenkorf department store, Rotterdam, 1930

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  Monument on Afsluitdijk, 1933