(abridged version Bonas Essay) H. Knijtijzer was born on June 6, 1914 in Amsterdam, where he would continue to live and to which he would continue to feel a strong connection.After graduating in 1934 from the MTS Bouwkunde in the Dongestraat in Amsterdam, Knijtijzer worked for Baanders, G.H. Holt, J.P. Kloos, J.J. van de Linden and A. Komter, among others. After the war, Knijtijzer returned as bureau chief with Van der Linden, and in 1946 he started his own firm. Knijtijzer's field of work covered school buildings, churches, offices, daycare centers, stores and homes. He produced a delicate kind of architecture, typified by simplicity and optimism and influenced by the "softer modernism" of Group 32 members, the insights into both traditionalism and progressive modernism given by F.A. Eschauzier in 1942, and the architecture of some Scandinavians such as E.G. Asplund. Apart from new buildings, much of Knijtijzers portfolio was filled with commissions for extensions and conversions, often of buildings he had previously designed himself. From the 1950s, he also had restoration commissions, many of which were in Amsterdam's canal belt. Knijtijzer lovingly designed interiors and furniture, in his buildings or as commissions in themselves, and a number of grave monuments. In addition to his built (and unbuilt) oeuvre, Knijtijzer also has a fairly large written oeuvre. Many of his articles appeared in magazines such as Bouw, Bouwkundig Weekblad, Forum and, later, in Heemschut. From 1940 until his death in 1994, his articles theorized about the Nieuwe Bouwen, dealt with what was being built in the reconstruction period, and wrote reflections on church building, monuments, restoration, and building in a historic environment. Knijtijzer held many board positions. At Architectura et Amicitia he was, among other things, secretary, member of the editorial board of Forum (1959-1963) and member of the Urban Planning Council for Amsterdam. He was also, for example, a member of various committees on building aesthetics, a member of the editorial board of the magazine Heemschut, and a member of the monument inventory committee Dooijes, for which he was awarded the medal of the city of Amsterdam upon completion of the extensive work. In the late 1930s, Knijtijzer was also affiliated with the artists' group "The Composites. This multidisciplinary group of young artists, springing from the circle of liberal Protestants and sympathizing with the ideas of the Remonstrant Brotherhood and the VPRO, wanted to focus primarily on religious art. Education and apprenticeship After HBS, Knijtijzer (with his brother J.B. Knijtijzer) graduated from the MTS Bouwkunde at 12 Dongestraat in Amsterdam in June 1934. Among others, with Vriend and Jellema as teachers. In the late 1930s he attended the Architecture Course of Group 32 members; A. Boeken, H. Mastenbroek and P. Zanstra. Because of the little work during the war, due in part to the construction freeze of 1942 and Kultuurkamer perils at Van der Linden, in 1942 he attended the supervisory lectures at the HBO in Amsterdam (the later Academy of Architecture) as an admirer to the examination assignment of F.A. Eschauzier, his great example. Working circle From 1934 to 1936, Knijtijzer worked at various architectural firms. He started with his brother at Baanders' firm where his father Johan Bernard Knijtijzer, before becoming a real estate agent, was an administrator. He then worked for G.H. Holt and J.P. Kloos, well-known modern architects and also a member of Group 32. From 1936 to 1941 he was first draftsman with the Amsterdam (anthroposophical) architect J.J. van der Linden. In addition to these employments, Knijtijzer worked somewhat for himself. Each one of his designs was clearly influenced by Group 32, which rejected excessive pragmatism and softened the harshness of modernity by using alternating materials, textures and colors. During the war, when Van der Linden was prevented from building because of his refusal to join the Kultuurkamer and had gone into hiding after a stay in the House of Detention, Knijtijzer was able to stay for a year with, again a Group 32 member, Auke Komter. From 1946, Knijtijzer became an independent architect. Liberal as he was, he preferred his own practice to a partnership with Van der Linden, and started, in the roof of Van der Linden's building on Herengracht, with a number of renovation assignments. The firm remained fairly constant in terms of the number of commissions and employees. There were always five or seven draughtsmen, including Piet Blom (draughtsman for Knijtijzer 1956-1960), Lucien Lafour, R. Blom van Assendelft and, for the interior, Knijtijzer's daughter Wendeline. Articles Herman Knijtijzer's architectural views are characterized by a deliberate and conscientious enthusiasm, which he applied in his designs and described, resolutely and with conviction, in his articles. From his articles in, among others, Bouw magazine in the late 1940s to his Heemschut articles in the 1990s, he continued to write sharply and expressively. The New Building In principle, Knijtijzer had already laid the foundation for his views in 1939, in a treatise on 'Die Neue Sachlichkeit' (he found the Dutch translation of this term less comprehensive). This text contained the sentence 'As everything simple does not yet unconditionally entail beauty, so simplicity is the hallmark of the true.' A typical statement for Knijtijzer that would later recur frequently in his articles and buildings. Building in the historic environment In addition to Knijtijzer's propagated simplicity and the use of the essence of tradition in an alliance with the present, a third theme is his self-described 'harmony of contrast,' which was particularly evident in his work in the Old Town. In the article of the same name, he wrote that analogous to architecture in nature, "a tight blue sky or a completely covered sky is less captivating than the flight of clouds along a clear sky. This harmony of contrast did not mean that contrast by itself should be the objective, but in combination with his other themes it would take Knijtijzer further in his pursuit of what he called "a non-anxiety-based architecture in the historic cityscape. Monuments, Restorations Knijtijzer's themes are found not only in his new construction projects and in his critical articles, but also in his restoration commissions, which he fulfilled with great love. Simplicity, the use of the essence of tradition in a union with the present, and the harmony of contrast were valuable points of reference here as well. Knijtijzer himself had a very distinct conception of restoration. Unlike, for example, the view of John Ruskin, who wrote in 1849 that in restoration the original was destroyed and replaced by a copy and decoction, and therefore advocated faithful preservation of monuments, Knijtijzer's views were always focused on the survival of the essence of the monuments to be restored. In conclusion The importance of Knijtijzer's work, then, lies in the invisible values worked out in his designs, the result of which, the building, can be understood as a means. Never as an end in itself. Hence the great cohesion in Knijtijzer's designs and writings. The importance of architecture lies, in Knijtijzer's words, "hidden behind the building line. Education: MTS Amsterdam Department of Architecture/-1934;HBO Amsterdam/1942 Other positions: Architectura et Amicitia/member/1940-1942 and 1946-1987;Architectura et Amicitia/2nd secretary/1946-1955;Architectura et Amicitia/secretary/1956-1957;advisory board VHBO/member/1950;Stedebouwkundige Raad voor Amsterdam/member/1956, 1957 and 1968;Academie van Bouwkunst Amsterdam/board member/1960-1961;Kunstraad Amsterdam/member/1960-1961;Amsterdamse Raad voor de Monumentenzorg/member/;Welstands Commissie Amsterdam/member/;Commissie Dooijes/member/;Forum/member of the editorial board/1959-1963;Bond Heemschut/member of the editorial board/.