During the decades which followed the Second World War, many countries were confronted with the challenge of rebuilding their accommodation and their infrastructure while having to adapt to a baby boom which stops quickly. The government of the Netherlands has become more creative than most, putting money to experimental housing projects from the end of the 1960s. Hoping to occur on the next revolutionary housing form, this ended up funding conceptions which, for the most part, did not move too much from the established models. However, there were real aberrant values: by far the most daring proposal came from the artist and the sculptor Dry Kreijkamp: To build an entire district of Bolwoningen, or “ball houses”.
The idea can remind Buckminster Fuller geodesic domeswhich has experienced a certain degree of utopian vogue in the nineteen seventy-sitting and seventy. Like Fuller and most other visionaries, Kreijkamp worked under a certain monomania. It had to do with the globes, “the most organic and natural form as possible. After all, roundness is everywhere: we live on a globe, and we were born from a globe. The globe combines the largest possible volume with the smallest surface possible, so you need minimum material for this. The 50 Bolwoningen integrated into S-Hétogenbosch, better known as Den Bosch, were quickly made on site for reinforced fiberglass concrete.
Since they were installed in 1984, the Bolwoningen have been permanently inhabited. In The video at the top of the postYouTuber Tom Scott visits one of them, whose occupier seems reasonably satisfied. (It seems that they are “comfortable” in winter.)
Like geodesic domes, their round walls make it difficult to use their theoretically generous interior space effectively, at least without ordering custom furniture; Fuition windows are also a lasting problem. Although each Bolwoning can comfortably house one or even two simple people, only the most in mind of utopia would try to raise a family in one of them. As with the other conceptions of round or circular houses, the expansion would be physically impractical even if it was legally possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7bdkee74-o
Used as social housing by the local government, the Bolwoningen now benefit from a protected historical status. (Also they could, given their link with the art and industry of Dutch cutting: It was by working in a glass factory that Kreijkamp began to proselytize for spheres.) And unlike most of the aesthetically radical housing developments, they did not go to seeds, but rather received the necessary maintenance during the decades. The result is an attractive district for those whose lifestyles are adapted to its unusual structures and its bucolic framework contained, which you can have an idea The Walking Video Tour just above. As Kreijkamp died in 2014, he may have felt a certain degree of regret that the globular houses produced in mass were not the next great thing. But he lived to see the emergence of the movement of the “little house”, which should adopt it retroactively as one of its main lights.
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Based in Seoul, Colin MArshall Written and broadcastTS on cities, language and culture. His projects include the substack newsletter Books on cities And the book The stateless city: a walk through Los Angeles from the 21st century. Follow it on the social network formerly known as Twitter in @ColinmArshall.
At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.