This new Dutch town proves that we
can still build beautiful new cities. Meet Brandevoort, a charming,
cyclist and pedestrian friendly neighborhood near Helmond. It is special in multiple ways,
because it has the structure of a traditional Dutch fortified town. But it is brand new and equipped
with all modern luxuries. Some thought that this experiment
would fail, but instead the concept worked extremely well, creating
a popular place to live and solid proof that the principles of
traditional urban design still work. And not only that, but a large part
of the housing in Brandevoort is actually affordable, or even consists
of social housing, instead of just being a resort for the ultra rich. But is this the recipe for
better cities worldwide? Or can we improve on this town? And what is the future of Brandevoort? I went there to find out. Welcome, I'm Ruben from The
Aesthetic City, a platform devoted to making our cities a little
bit more beautiful and livable. Brandevoort and I go way back. In 2009, I already went to
Brandevoort to take pictures. Because this town is one of a kind. I was curious and excited to experience
what a new traditional town would be like. Back then, only around half was finished. Today, in 2024, the ambitious
project is almost done. Including its surrounding neighborhoods. And the town is a success. The individual faces sold easily
and the residents are happy. But the existence of this
town is very unlikely. It was criticized by adherents of
modern urban planning because it would just be a copy of an old town. Even worse, it would use
historicizing or retro architecture. And in a country with people that
regard themselves as so incredibly forward thinking and innovative,
that is of course not done. But, as you will see in this
video, this completely new town wasn't built out of nostalgia. Instead, it aimed to fit the place
where it was built, and used the successful, pragmatic ideas that
people have applied for centuries. But first, how was Brandevoort founded? In the 1990s, the population
of the Netherlands was growing, and more housing was needed. The Dutch National Planning Committee
developed a plan, the so called Vierde Nota Ruimtelijke Ordening Extra, or Fourth
Memorandum on Spatial Planning Extra. This plan called for the expansion
of cities in specific areas. Which would be named Vinex
locations, as an abbreviation of the name Vierde Nota Extra. And Brandevoort was such a location. Originally it was situated in
the municipality of Myrle, a small agricultural settlement. But it was annexed by the bigger
city of Helmond for development. Few of the Vinex Locations would be as
special as Brandevoort would become. They would have weird or plain
and monotonous architecture. There would be sleepy suburbs,
just expanding on the edge of town. Brandevoort was to be very different. For the plan, two brilliant
architects were recruited. First of all, Rob Krier. This is the older brother of Léon Krier,
famous for Cayalá and Poundbury, which you might know from some of my videos. Rob Krier sadly passed away recently. He called Brandevoort one
of his crown achievements. Then there was Christoph Kohl, an
experienced and prolific German architect and urbanist, who
cooperated with Krier on the design. The companies Wissing and Grontmij
cooperated as well, and Paul van Beek would design the landscape. The design team did something very
different than in regular projects. They chose for the design of a typical
fortified town, as can be found in the province of Brabant, where it is
located, surrounded by more suburban, rural outer neighborhoods, or 'Buitens'. All the buildings would relate to the
typical local Brabant architecture. Construction began around the year 1998,
and in 2007, the first phase was complete. Instead of being just an expansion
of the existing city of Helmond, Brandevoort would be its own community,
with De Veste being its core. The Veste is the part that looks like
a fortified town, and the buitens around it are named Schutsboom,
Brandt, Stepekolk, and the newer Haaswinkel, Liverdonk, and Kranenbroek. I know, that's a lot of Dutch to process. Buildings were designed by Krier & Kohl,
some by the firm Breitman & Breitman, and many by Scala Architecten, a Dutch firm
led by Mieke Bosse and Peter Drijver. Scala already had a lot of experience
designing affordable, locally inspired architecture in great numbers. Apart from these firms and many
others, like LSWA, there would be another group of architects who
would shape the future of this place. An Italian professor and his
American students of the Notre Dame School of Architecture. Before we move on to tell about the
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save 10 percent on your first purchase of a website or domain. And now let's get back to it. The ministry wanted Brandevoort
to create local jobs, so a number of local architects were hired. But not all firms built with the
same quality that was liked by the inhabitants, leading to some criticism. To fix this, Rob Krier decided
to call in help from overseas. He contacted the University of Notre
Dame School of Architecture to ask Ettore Mazzola, an Italian professor
leading the Rome program, if they could develop a plan with architecture
as it should have been done. Mazzola accepted the invitation
and brought his students to Brandevoort and the surrounding area. In just a couple of weeks, they documented
local architecture and created a sort of pattern book of the region of Brabant. They also pointed to problems
with the existing buildings. Instead of being ignored, Brandevoort. The new ideas in Criticism were
embraced, and the team was given two lots to design, number 18 and 22. Once their designs were done, the
result was so successful that they were actually used for plot 18, and
their findings were also used to inform the design of other future blocks. The end result is a beautiful,
picturesque town with nice squares and meandering streets. In the middle of the main square
stands a classical market hall, which might be the crown jewel of the town. Children safely use their
bikes and play freely. Little shops line the central square. It's all very peaceful and quiet. It's just a pleasant place to live. And that's exactly what
it was designed for. Brandevoort even has a train station. Overall, the plan has been a huge success. The homes sold easily and by
now it is almost finished. So, on what principles
was this plan based? Traditional urban design. First of all, the town makes
use of the unbeaten formula of blocks, streets, and squares. After a century of trying to reinvent
the wheel, often with disastrous results, we seem to rediscover
how well this recipe works. The design of Brandevoort
is very human friendly. It is very safe for cyclists,
pedestrians, and children. Although cars can get to most places,
they cannot go everywhere and always share the street with cyclists. The streets are designed
to discourage speeding. And parking is moved to the back of
the houses, inside of the blocks, keeping the streets free of parked cars. Adaptation to the context. Brandevoort truly belongs
in the Brabant landscape. The architecture fits the local culture,
the local climate, and builds on the same principles and shared history. It continues the story of the
location, instead of trying to deny it. And finally, affordability. Brandevoort is not just
a town for the rich. The first phase of Brandevoort
consists of 22 percent social housing. They were built with the same quality
and beauty and mixed through the others. And remember that this is quite rare. We don't see this in many places. As is often the case, there is criticism. And because Brandevoort was so
different, it was an easy target. The first point of criticism is,
why would you design a city like a 17th century fortified town? Well, there is a very simple answer. Because traditional urban fabric
is still the only type of urban fabric we know will predictably
lead to pleasant, successful places. We have tried the tower
in the park concept. It failed. We have tried car suburbs. They failed. Today, we need places that
are dense, walkable, and can be adjusted to future uses. And traditional urban fabric
still does this the best way. And to be honest, I don't expect
we'll find other recipes for cities as successful as this anytime soon. Bringing us to point of criticism 2. Isn't this town just a form of nostalgia? To answer this, let me quote
a nice piece of wisdom. Tradition is about preserving the
fire, not about worshipping the ashes. I'm personally not interested
in nostalgia at all. And I'm convinced the
architects weren't either. They just saw, hey, this works, people
like this, and it fits the location. It's the best idea out
there, so let's do it. Building traditions are technologies
given to us by previous generations that worked really well. So instead of ignoring them, why
not use them for our benefit? Then criticism point three. How is this type of town
compatible with a country or people who wants to be progressive? Isn't it reactionary to build like this? Well, I would say get your
definition of progress right. Progress, in my point of view,
doesn't just mean embracing whatever is different or new. I believe progress always
serves a certain purpose. The improvement of the human condition. So this means, making people happier,
healthier, more prosperous and thriving. And not just chasing change
or whatever is novel. So if this town is a success and
thus make people happy and lets them thrive, isn't this the most
progressive thing we could do? Or must progress always
look like glass blocks? I'll let you decide in the comments. Brandevoort isn't perfect of course. One of the biggest problems, perhaps, is
that while it looks like a small city, it doesn't really function like one. Because traffic is diverted around the
center, only destination traffic goes into the heart of the town, making it quiet and
giving businesses a harder time surviving. Most existing cities have a reason
for existing where they are, like being located on the crossing of
two roads or where trade happens. But then again, do the residents
of Brandevoort really care? They value the quiet of the
town, while still living in a charming, walkable, safe place. Another point of critique I would
bring forward is that not all the architecture is equally nicely detailed. It doesn't always look as authentic. The most authentic looking traditional
architecture comes with the use of traditional construction techniques. An example is what Building
Culture from Oklahoma is doing. By building entirely out of
brick, they create buildings that have this authentic quality. Unfortunately, it is more expensive,
and Brandevoort needed to offer social housing in the mix as well. I guess you can't have both. At least, not at this time. With the enormous success of
Brandevoort, you might expect the municipality to be smart and say,
hey, it works, let's do more of this. Right? Well, almost. The next phase of Brandevoort,
called De Marke, was already planned out and ready to be built using
the same successful principles. But the municipality of Helmond decided
that instead it would be better to choose for an untested novel concept of a smart
city called Brainport Smart District. This would become the city of the future. Hmm, where did we hear that before? Brainport Smart District would be
filled with sensors and technology. And it would look like this. Randomly placed modernist
blocks in a park like setting. At first glance it might look futuristic. But let's be honest. Is it really? The buildings you see already
exist, in many Dutch towns. So they're not very original. Apparently the future is yesterday. Maybe we need to move beyond
the blocky minimalist aesthetic. And while we're at it, invent something
different from the science fiction vision of what the future should look like. In the case of Brandevoort and
its expansion, I don't see any reason why all the sensors and
other technology couldn't have been integrated in the existing design. They wasted a lot of money
and a good plan for nothing. It's painful to say, but modernist
urban design tends to flop. While traditional design tends
to do better and is preferred by a large part of the population. So, they're taking on a lot of risk. Anyway, I wish them luck. They already had to reduce their
ambitions by a lot to cut costs. If it gets built though, it will be
the best natural experiment ever. We can just compare the two
places in 70 years and see which one will be more successful. You can place your bets in the comments. So, that is the story of Brandevoort. I believe this town really is a
hopeful sign that we can still build amazing new places that are
beautiful but also affordable, walkable and safe for children. If you're visiting the Netherlands,
I encourage you to take the trip by train and take a look. I'm happy to read what you think. If you liked this video, please
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