Residential building /Public housing
During his architectural career, Dudok created more than forty residential complexes, ranging from a row of four houses (Oegstgeest, 1913) to a complete residential area of a thousand homes (Amsterdam-Geuzenveld, 1953-57) and varying from simple workers’ houses to luxury apartment complexes. In the service of the municipality of Hilversum, Dudok built no fewer than twenty-five housing complexes, the first in 1919 and the last in 1956.
Hilversum
Dudok arrived at the right time in Hilversum. The rapidly growing municipality had an enormous need for workers’ houses, which could be built by municipalities and housing associations with the support of the State under the Housing Act 1901/1902. The purpose of the law was to clear up the large amount of slum dwellings in the country and create better, sanitary housing for workers. Dudok was very successful with its municipal housing complexes. They were simple workers’ houses – the costs had to be kept low – but all were practically furnished. The houses were given a neat appearance and the variation in facades, the placement of special buildings and the greenery and parks in the neighborhoods created a pleasant living environment. Most of the residential complexes in Hilversum came about in the 1920s and 1930s.
Outside of Hilversum
Dudok did not only build in Hilversum. He received commissions from all over the country through his own architectural firm. In the mid-1930s, Dudok designed a number of homes and housing projects of an architectural quality that far exceeded the average, according to architectural historian Lara Voerman in the book Wonderlijkheden. These include homes on the Bors van Waverenstraat in Amstelveen (1936), Park Zorgvlied in Tilburg (1936-38) and the Witte Dorp (garden village De Burgh) in Eindhoven (1937-38). Dudok also provided a combination of a practical set-up and aesthetic design for these private assignments. For example, the complex in Eindhoven was designed as a luxury garden village with an alternation of country houses, middle class houses, larger and smaller mansions and shops with garages. This complex was designated a national monument in 2001. In Bussum Dudok built more luxurious apartment complexes such as the Parkflats (1951-56) and the Kom van Biegel complex (1954-56).
Post war reconstruction
After his retirement in 1954 from the municipality of Hilversum, Dudok spent his time in his own practice. These were the years of reconstruction, and the post-war housing shortage created an enormous construction task. In collaboration with his partner R.M.H Magnée, Dudok designed a multitude of apartment houses in the Gooi and in cities such as Amstelveen and Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, Dudok contributed to the development of the garden city Geuzenveld, part of the General Expansion Plan, for which he designed single-family homes as well as high-rise blocks.