The only really abundant building materials in Holland were bricks. Stone was available in limited quantities, but not readily so. Brick-earths there were in plenty, and brick-building has been practised continuously from the dawn of Dutch architecture to the present day. The inhabitants, after long and intimate association, became very proficient in the use of bricks, skilful in applying them, and apt to quickly realize the possibilities afforded by this material. There is, therefore, a great deal of old work of exceptional interest which is, in addition, valuable for the suggestions it presents.
GRONINGEN (1509)
The creation and development of an architectural style, depending upon brickwork as the medium for its execution, call into being considerable powers of ingenuity. For the limitations of bricks are definite and circumscribed; the unit is small and its size not subject to variation. Moreover, enrichment can only be obtained by careful disposition and arrangement of the units, and the almost unlimited scope possessed by stone, wood or plaster—both in respect to size of parts and effects of surface decoration—is nearly non-existent. Difficulties such as these have to be realised and overcome, but good results are not easily secured. The preconceived ideas in the mind, the general proportions, and the disposition of features, are governed to a degree by the nature of the building material. And for these reasons, the bonding of the walling, colour arrangements, width and finish of the mortar joints, and the precise manner of forming details, all contribute markedly to the ultimate appearance of the whole. Good brickwork depends, even more than other forms of building, upon a complete understanding of the capabilities of the medium; skill in manipulating it is secondary only to capacity for design.
BOXMEER, NORTH BRABANT
It was in the use of bricks that the Dutch were especially successful. Qualified by experience gained through years of experiment, their achievements were dexterous and often daring. They were thoroughly at home with brickwork, alive to its restrictions as well as its possibilities, and they handled it in a spontaneous and reasonable way. All the features and details of some buildings had to be suitably designed for execution in this not very pliable material—gables (page [21]), windows, doorways (shown above), decoration, mouldings and traceries. Problems such as these, definitely existing, were satisfactorily solved. The craftsmen thought in brickwork, as it were, and forms were more or less dictated by the means available for carrying them out. Not that stone was ignored; on the contrary, it was doubtless used when it could be obtained, as our illustrations plainly show. Thus, it was employed not only for ornamental details but often for the entire structures. Wood had its uses too, as may be seen in the half-timbered houses at Dordrecht or the wooden-fronted ones at Gorinchem (Gorcum), illustrated opposite; and plaster entered into the construction of many country buildings. But the prevailing conditions brought about an advanced development of brickwork and through it the vital building tradition was evolved.
GORINCHEM (GORCUM), SOUTH HOLLAND
