(abridged version Bonas Essay) Duintjer would become known as the architect of De Nederlandsche Bank on Frederiksplein in Amsterdam, which as a landmark in the city was not inferior to medieval cathedrals. Other than that, every comparison failed except for the fact that also at De Nederlandsche Bank "Building with heart and soul" served as the starting point. The intention to harmonize technique and aesthetics can be seen as a constant factor in Marius Duintjer's oeuvre. Duintjer was not only the architect of these prominent and controversial bank buildings, he was also the designer of urban plans and buildings such as churches, residences, hospitals, provincial houses, company buildings and of the main building for Schiphol Airport. Both before and after World War II, there was a "battle of directions" in the architectural debate between new and traditional building, in which Duintjer participated only indirectly. Duintjer can be seen as an architect of "the third way," where technique and design, or in his own words technique and aesthetics, went together, complementing each other and reaching a compromise. These views were sometimes referred to as "shake hands architecture" in the postwar period. For Duintjer, the work of Le Corbusier must have been of great significance, as it was for many of his peers. The unprecedented possibilities of reinforced concrete, as applied by Le Corbusier, formed the basis for his work, characterized by open floor plans, by the powerful horizontal, far cantilevered floor overhangs and large glass facades. In it, influences were also identifiable from the work of F.L. Wright and from traditional Japanese architecture, which he learned about through professional literature. In the 1950s, Duintjer made his breakthrough as a leading architect. The most important works in Duintjer's oeuvre came about in the 1960s, when the economy picked up. These included the main building for Schiphol Airport, De Nederlandsche Bank and the ABN office building in Amsterdam, the provincial buildings in Zwolle and Assen, the Christelijk Lyceum Buitenveldert in Amsterdam, the Thomaskerk in Zeist and the Andreas Hospital in Amsterdam. His buildings are characterized by clear structures and optimal orientation and stand out for their careful detailing and choice of materials. Duintjer had a great fondness for natural materials, such as wood combined with untreated concrete, Groninger brick and grout tiles. To these could be added "daylight" as one of his most important building blocks. He did not design monumental buildings, but buildings with an open and clear structure that were accessible to the public. Just as De 8 was aesthetic, Marius Duintjer could be called amonumental. Education Marius Frans Duintjer was born on December 22, 1908, and grew up in Veendam. He attended elementary school and HBS here. After graduating from HBS-A in 1927, Marius Duintjer left for Switzerland to study architecture at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich. He would not be admitted to the TH in Delft with his HBS-A diploma. The course at the ETH had a good reputation in Europe. The emphasis there was on design practice rather than theoretical and technical subjects, as was the case at the TH in Delft. After graduating in 1931, Marius Duintjer returned to the Netherlands, where he completed his military service in 1932. In this year he also entered a study competition for an architect's residence, which had been issued by the Genootschap Architectura et Amicitia. The jury was positive about Duintjer's design and greatly appreciated the simple and clear main layout and connecting site layout. After his period of service, Marius Duintjer left for Paris in 1933 to continue his training in architecture with Le Corbusier, as was done more often by his contemporaries. Duintjer undoubtedly learned a lot there, if only thinking about the profession in a special way and experiencing up close the almost unlimited possibilities of reinforced concrete. Duintjer worked at Le Corbusier's office until 1935, after which - back in the Netherlands - he worked for a short time at the architectural firm Hooykaas and Lockhorst in Rotterdam, and then in the same year founded his own architectural firm in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Town Hall Competition 1936-1941 In 1936, the Municipality of Amsterdam took the decision to hold a competition for a new council house with the location of the former site of the Paleis voor Volksvlijt, Frederiksplein. The competition consisted of two parts: a "preliminary camp," which was open to all, and a "final camp. In it, the winners of the first round competed against each other. Over 1,000 programs were sent out on request in December 1936, which resulted in 225 entries for the first public round on August 10, 1937. Architects M.F. Duintjer and A. Komter, as happened more often, formed a design duo. Duintjer and Komter's design, with the motto "Meron," had a distinctly asymmetrical layout. Monumentality was not sought. In December 1937, the four winners of the first round were announced. These were H.T. Zwiers, the architectural combination J.F. Berghoef and J.J.M. Vegter, all three from Delft School circles, and the combinations M.F. Duintjer and A. Komter and J.F. and A. Staal from the sphere of the Nieuwe Bouwen. Finally, after 3(!) rounds, in 1941 the design by Berghoef and Vegter was chosen over that of Duintjer and Komter. In doing so, the jury expressed its clear preference for The Delft School. The design by Duintjer and Komter, which at the beginning of the competition was still considered a Nieuwe Bouwen design, was no longer seen as such due to a total transformation. The war years The war years were extraordinarily drastic for Marius Duintjer. In 1939 he was called up as a reserve officer, due to the general mobilization that had been proclaimed by the Dutch government on August 28 of that year and that would continue until the capitulation of May 15, 1940. Marius Duintjer married Martha Janna van der Maar during this period, on February 29, 1940. He was stationed near Soest with the Corps of Engineers. His company worked on the water line: mapping and blowing up bridges. Duintjer spent time in three concentration camps during the war years: Amersfoort, Haren and Grune near Lissa (Poland). In 1945, Marius Duintjer picked up where he left off with his agency. In the period from 1946-1948, he designed a series of war monuments, which undoubtedly had to do with his experiences during the war. The war conditions had more or less isolated Duintjer from architectural discussion. Except for the work on the City Hall competition in Amsterdam in collaboration with Auke Komter, he did not produce much other work. That was probably another reason why he was not involved in the Doorn teaching courses, which were held during the war with the aim of bringing about a reconciliation between the divergent views within the architectural world. Schiphol 1963-1967, a Dutch business card The new airport for Schiphol had to become the business card of the Netherlands. In 1961, Schiphol Airport commissioned the architectural consortium Bouwbureau Stationsgebouw Schiphol (B.S.S.) to build the new terminal building complex. The B.S.S. consisted of the NACO Netherlands Airport Consultants, Architecten- en Ingenieursbureau Ir. F.C. de Weger for the construction and Prof. M.F. Duintjer for the architecture. Because NACO did not have the expertise in house at that time for such a large and complicated building complex, Marius Duintjer was engaged as chief architect and supervisor of the overall building plan. The new Schiphol, with its modern buildings, was eventually given a coherent and clear image with a high degree of flexibility and transparency. For the first time there was architectural allure for the national airport. Education: ETH Zurich/1927-1932 Additional positions: Academie van Bouwkunst Amsterdam/teacher/1945;Maatschappij tot bevordering der Bouwkunst/member/1945;BNA/member/1945;Kring Amsterdam/board member/1945;'Groep Roosenburg'/member/1945;Technische Hogeschool Delft/extraordinary professor/1956-1963;Architectura et Amicitia/member/1936;de 8/member/1936;Commissie van Advies voor de Restauratie van het Koninklijk Paleis in Amsterdam/member/1958 Honors: Architecture Prize of the City of Amsterdam/1958;Commandeur in the House Order of Orange/1966