During the Open Gardens West (Open Tuinen West) last Saturday I had the opportunity to present my project ‘The Story of Geuzenhof‘ to the public during guided tours.

The setting of my research project – the Geuzenhof complex in Amsterdam (NL) – attracted +/-400 visitors.

Geuzenhof, consisting of two elongated blocks, was realised in the 1930s as a ‘social, green vision’ with around 600 working-class flats. In addition to builder Huibert van Saane, urban planners Cornelis van Eesteren and Jakoba Mulder, architects Jacob Dunnebier and Johannes F. Berghoef, garden architect Mien Ruys and designer Piet Zwart also contributed to the realisation and design of the Geuzenhof.

In my project The Story of Geuzenhof I am investigating the development process of this special housing estate with gardens, a complex story still unknown to the public. In addition, using the Geuzenhof as a case study, I am studying how residents- and citizen participation can contribute to social interaction and the solution of green challenges.

For the garden committee of Geuzenhof 1 – with Ton Heijligers, Gé Teunissen, Koen Keepers and myself – Open Tuinen West was also the finalisation of a 6-year redevelopment, which they have managed and supervised from the very beginning. Landscape architect Ward Maaswinkel designed the new garden plan and all divisions of Copijn worked on the realisation.

Among the many guests at Geuzenhof were people I met during my research. Countless former Geuzenhof residents stopped by, some of whom I interviewed for my project, such as Kees Hilgers and David Barnouw.

Family members of garden architect Mien Ruys, architect Johannes F. Berghoef and Huibert van Saane visited Geuzenhof for the first time.

Copijn employees Marcel de Veen and Patrick van Rossum, who normally entered an empty garden during working hours, enjoyed a crowded site.

News channel AT5 visited us and made a feature for AT5 News.

In the evening, the district administrator Esther Fabriek came by to festively open the Geuzenhof 1-garden together with the residents.

Thanks to Hagen Mumm, Sjaak Besseling and to Ralph Stuyver, who helped to introduce my project to the audience during this special ‘Open Tuinen West’ event.

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