Habitat: Expanding ArchitectureHabitat: Expanding Architecture

Pjotr Gonggrijp (1935) studied at the former TH Delft and was student assistant to Cornelis van Eesteren, the former secretary general of CIAM. Interviews and correspondence present in the archive show that Gonggrijp was critical about the analytical urban planning doctrine of Van Eesteren. Gonggrijp would also assist Aldo van Eyck in his teaching in Delft and was touched by his imaginative use of language on the human experience of architectural space.

Gonggrijp graduated in 1969 on a landscape study of the western Netherlands. His design research focused on the ongoing expansion of the port of Rotterdam, including the location of new docks, the flow of goods and the residential areas in the region. For this research he created a series of hand-drawn maps with overlaid transparent sheets.

These drawings were an analysis of the Dutch delta and its characteristic geological landscape formations in relation to the different settlement patterns. For these, Gonggrijp used various cartographic sources including contemporary Michelin maps, topographical maps from around 1850 and historical maps by Jacob van Deventer from the 16th century.

The drawings often show multiple layers at the same time: for example, historical landscapes and cities are combined with the modern infrastructure of docks and railways. Gonggrijp's fascination for anthropology and psychoanalysis meant that the drawings were not only an architectural tool, but also a means to literally map the specific identity of the landscape and its inhabitants.