Structuralism

Structuralism is a movement in architecture and urban planning that developed around the middle of the twentieth century as a reaction against the perceived lifeless, impersonal expression of Rationalist, CIAM influenced Functionalism, which critics felt ignored the identity of both individual inhabitants and the urban forms they lived within. The Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck, who lived from 1918 to 1999, was one of the movement's most influential figures; in 1959 he formulated the concept he called the Aesthetics of Number, comparing a building's composition to the structure of cellular tissue. Van Eyck's own most influential realization of these ideas is the Municipal Orphanage in Amsterdam, completed in 1960, composed of repetitive elements that could easily be enlarged or adapted to changing needs, while remaining multi functional spaces intended to generate spontaneous social interaction and to serve the needs of users of every age. Van Eyck and his fellow Dutch architect Jaap Bakema were both members of Team 10, the group of architects associated with developing and spreading Structuralist ideas beyond the Netherlands.