BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF P.J. ELLING (1897-1962) Piet -full name: Petrus Johannes- Elling was born in Utrecht, on January 30, 1897. He grew up on the Mariaplaats in Utrecht, in a large, strict Catholic tailor family. His father died at a young age and his mother was left with eight children. After elementary school, Elling attended vocational school, where he earned a carpenter's diploma. In 1910 he went to the arts and crafts school in Utrecht, where he was taught by Klaarhamer and others and became proficient in furniture making and sculpture. Elling's heirs still own sculpture from this period. After this, Elling went to work in construction and at the Zeist camp where refugees and prisoners of war from Belgium were housed. In 1914 he consciously turned his back on Roman Catholicism. He was more attracted to blossoming socialism. Until 1919, Elling worked in housing construction in Utrecht and in a contractor's office. He was very interested in drawing and developed his own style of drawing. He admired the work of J.Th. Toorop (1858-1928). Yet sculpture and architecture were his preferred fields. For a long time it was not clear in which direction he would continue, but eventually it became architecture. This choice was influenced in part by his meeting and later friendship with Gerrit Rietveld. He met Rietveld at an exhibition at Kunstliefde in 1918. From 1919 to 1922, Elling participated in discussion evenings at Rietveld's home. Here he met B.H. Nijland, whom he married in 1922. Elling was inspired by Berlage and Van 't Hoff. The latter carried the ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1920s. This is reflected in a villa in Huis ter Heide designed by Van 't Hoff in 1915. The logic and purity in Van 't Hoff's design really appealed to Elling. Elling's villa on the Joelaan in Hilversum was influenced by this, which can be seen especially in the symmetry of the facades. From 1919 to 1926, Elling worked at K.P.C. de Bazel. With self-study and evening courses, he started at De Bazel as an architectural draftsman in the office. However, daily practice was disappointing for him. After a year, he therefore requested a transfer in order to be able to focus on one building, where he could concentrate entirely on building. So in 1920 he worked as an architectural supervisor on the construction of the country house "Het Stoephout", commissioned by A.J. Kessler. In 1921 he worked again as an architectural supervisor on the construction of a country house in Moergestel, commissioned by Van den Berg of Tilburg. During his practical study period with De Bazel, Elling learned, in his own words, to build and to understand the material. After De Bazel's death in 1923, Elling continued his work on the construction of the Nederlandse Handelmaatschappij on Vijzelstraat under the direction of A.P. Smits. Until 1927, Elling worked for A.P. Smits in Aerdenhout. In 1924, Elling moved to Blaricum. From Blaricum, he attended Oud's classes at the Academy for Higher Architecture Education in Amsterdam. During this time, he became friends with Bart van der Leck, which later turned out to be the only designer with whom Elling could work well. Elling also became friends with Van 't Hoff, whom he met again with Van der Leck. In 1927, Elling settled as an independent architect in Laren, where he was able to break away from the atmosphere of De Bazel. During that time, he had intensive contact with Van der Leck. Elling received two commissions to design a villa in Hilversum, in 1928 for the villa on Hertog Hendriklaan commissioned by P. Polak and in 1929 for the villa on Joelaan commissioned by the Doyer family. However, these commissions did not bring in enough to live on, so Elling went back to being employed by an agency. From 1931 to 1934, Elling worked for J.M. van Hardeveld in Amsterdam. He then joined J. Duiker as bureau chief, for whom he had great admiration. Among other things, Elling carried out the plan for the Cineac in Amsterdam for Duiker. After Duiker's death, Elling expected to be allowed to finish Hotel Gooiland in Hilversum. However, Mrs. Duiker had arranged for Bijvoet to come from Paris for this purpose. Elling felt that Bijvoet was far too romantic and that Bijvoet did not design the interior in accordance with Duiker's new-business principles. Moreover, Elling could not cooperate with others who did not hold the same views and principles as he did. In 1933, Elling divorced his wife. His ten-year-old daughter lived first with Van der Leck and later with the Tuynman family. Elling lived very soberly, almost like a hermit, in rooms in Eemnes and then in Amsterdam. After World War II, he married C.A. Thomann. She died in 1992. Between 1934 and 1936, Elling again designed two villas, one in Bunnik and one in Hilversum. He was unemployed until 1938. Applications to J.G.C. Bremer (government architect) and the Zanstra, Giesen and Sijmons firm, among others, came to nothing. From 1938 to 1940 he worked again at Van Hardeveld in Amsterdam and again designed two villas on his own, one in Bunnik and one in Blaricum. Through Elling's villas, his fame as an architect of the Nieuwe Bouwen movement was definitively established in the 1930s. The villas also received attention abroad. According to Bakema, the villas stand out for their simplicity and austerity. Wartime was a difficult period for Elling. He necessarily did not want his work to serve the occupying forces. In 1940 he worked briefly at Holt in Overveen, and from 1940 to 1943 he was a project assistant for W. van Tijen and H.A. Maaskant. From 1943 to 1945, Elling worked for the monument committee in Alkmaar. The measurement of old facades was done by architects who had no work. In 1947, on the recommendation of C. van Eesteren, Elling joined the firm of Merkelbach and Karsten. There he was able to work on large projects. In 1949, Merkelbach dissolved the association with Karsten and associated himself with Elling. This association lasted until 1956, the year Merkelbach was appointed city architect of Amsterdam. In the association with Merkelbach, Elling was primarily the designer and Merkelbach the organizer. Elling was the man of the drawing board and had control over the work in every detail and Merkelbach was the man of the construction meetings. During the design and construction of the Joint Administration Office in Amsterdam, a conflict arose between Merkelbach and Elling. This may have been partly a cause of the dissolution of the partnership in 1956. In any case, the conflict led Elling to distance himself from the project. Probably the reason was a difference of opinion. In Elling's view of architecture, the interior was also an important part of the entire design, and therefore should be handled by the architect himself; possibly in collaboration with a visual artist with whom the architect had an affinity. When interior designers E. van Blerkom and I. Boks, and later A. Bodon, were brought in, Elling could not accept this. The story goes that Elling then burned part of Merkelbach's archive. However, this has never been confirmed. Important projects from this period included: the interior of the Carlton flat in Amsterdam (1949); the factory complex for J.J. Beynes in Beverwijk (1950); laboratory and catalyst for the Ketjen Royal Sulfuric Acid Plant in Amsterdam (1946-1955). After 1957, Elling continued the firm alone. Fortgens was appointed chief de Significant works were: Rijnhotel in Rotterdam (1959); the student sports center for the TH in Delft (1957-1960); the expansion of the VARA studios in Hilversum (1961), the Secretariat building for the Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs in Utrecht (1962) and after his death were completed: the Pompstation Amstelveenseweg in Amsterdam, the music pavilion for the N.R.U. in Hilversum and, as the crowning glory of his work: The Station Station buildings at Amsterdam (1960-1968). In 1957, Elling accepted the professorship at the Technische Hogeschool in Delft. In Delft, with his analytical way of working and thinking, he found a better connection than at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam, to which he was also connected as a lecturer for some time. In Amsterdam, he found no satisfaction in his work because, in his opinion, the atmosphere there was far too focused on achieving romantic coincidences. Elling was convinced that in the study period the method of achieving the goal is more important than the goal itself. In 1957, Elling became ill. Until the end, he remained employed and involved with the agency. Elling died at the age of 65 in Laren (N-H), on November 20, 1962. Visser and Van Gelderen continued his work.