Architectuur als culturele daad: een architectuurhistorisch onderzoek naar het architectuurbeleid van de rijksoverheid

Architecture as a cultural act
An architectural-historical research into the national architectural policy

In the 1980s, the conviction that contemporary architecture lacked quality was the reason for the central government to initiate policies to improve the standard of Dutch spatial design at all levels, including landscape architecture and urbanism. The term ‘architectural policy’ was the generic label used for these policies. It evolved at the crossroads of cultural and spatial policies.

The first, ‘Ruimte voor Architectuur’ (‘Space for Architecture’) was published in 1991. Its main goal was to strengthen the cultural dimension of architecture. In the following years, an extensive network of institutions developed. After the disappearance of spatial planning at the national level, the cutbacks in the cultural sector since 2013 and the integration in the so-called creative industry mark the end of the Dutch architectural policy.

This thesis describes the rise and fall of the architectural policy of the Dutch national government. The study focusses on the development of the architectural policy of the central government as a form of cultural policy. It sheds light on how the policy and with it the dominant views on Dutch culture were formulated and subsequently how they continually evolve over time.