Wendingen 100 YearsWendingen 100 Years

The first issue of Wendingen, a monthly magazine for architecture and interior design, was published exactly one hundred years ago. Between 1918 and 1931 a total of 116 issues came out, not only on architecture but also on fine and applied art. The magazine was an initiative of the Amsterdam Architectura et Amicitia society led by the editor-in-chief, architect and designer H.Th. Wijdeveld (1885-1987).

The magazine enjoyed an international reputation and was praised for the typography, the square 33 x 33 cm format (following the proportions of a Japanese tatami mat), and the cover designs. As in a Japanese woodblock book, the rice paper pages were bound with the blank sides facing one another and hand-sewn using raffia. The letters are sometimes placed vertically as in Chinese. The typeface is sans serif (without cross-lines) and the page layout is not designed around a central axis in order to create more liveliness. The covers of each of the special issues were specially designed for Wendingen by well-known designers. Wijdeveld managed to commission them from such famous artists as the painter Jan Sluijters, the sculptor Hildo Krop, the architect Michel de Klerk and the artist El Lissitzky. He gave them a free hand: the design did not need to have any connection with the contents of the issue, and it usually continued onto the back cover of the magazine. In this way modern design proceeded hand in hand with the characteristics of Japanese design that were being introduced in the Netherlands at the beginning of the twentieth century.

This pop-in expo shows Wendingen no. 4 from November 1922 with cover and design by El Lissitzky. Lissitzky was already a vanguard artist in the early 20s, but he was keen to work with this Dutch monthly for the opportunity to collaborate with Wijdeveld.

New presentations of mainly young design talent can be seen in the foyer of Het Nieuwe Instituut every few weeks. It is a way of highlighting a striking design or innovative research, whether or not it is connected with the current exhibition and debate programme of Het Nieuwe Instituut.