Henri Evers (1855-1929) Introduction He was born as Hendrik Jorden Evers on November 24, 1855. Building played an important role in the life of the family. Father Evers was a carpenter-architect and had his own construction business. The years 1875-1884 constituted Evers' "Wanderjahre. After architectural training at the academies of The Hague (1875-1876) and Antwerp (1876-1877), there followed practical years in architectural offices in Antwerp, Brussels (1877-1882), Vienna (1882-1883) and Budapest (1883-1884), after which he settled in Amsterdam in 1885. Evers' appointment as head teacher at the academy in Rotterdam in 1887 determined his career. He would work in education for the rest of his life and was a professor in Delft from 1902 to 1926. This work also resulted in the publication of several theoretical writings and a book on the history of architecture. On April 25, 1889, Evers married the ten years younger Dina Maria Hooijkaas (1865-1947). After his retirement, Evers lived the last three years of his life in Wassenaar, where he died on Nov. 1, 1929, at the age of seventy-three. Evers' architectural oeuvre was modest in scope, comprising some thirty-five known designs, of which only thirteen were executed. In his largest commissions, the Remonstrant Church in Rotterdam (1895-1897), the church of the Dutch Protestant Union in Schiedam (1908-1909) and the Rotterdam City Hall (1910-1920), Evers also designed the entire interior, including furniture and lamps. Education, apprenticeship and career In 1875, after passing the entrance examination for hand drawing, Evers was admitted to the architecture course at the Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague. Architecture instruction at the academy was taught by H.P. Vogel (1834-1886). Nothing is known about Vogel's teaching at this time, but the architectural views presented in his book, which may be assumed to have been propagated in his classes as well, do not appear to have been without influence on Evers. Perhaps spurred on by this, Evers left after a year, in 1876, for Antwerp, where he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Here he followed "the classical Academy studies of the famous Akademie," architectural education based on the Beaux-Arts methods developed in France. During this period, in addition to his studies, Evers gained work experience at the office of Antwerp architect F.C. Baeckelmans (1827-1896), an architect who had both neo-Gothic and neo-Renaissance designs to his credit. After completing his training at the academy in 1877, Evers remained in Belgium. He decided to henceforth call himself Henri and entered the service (for five years) of J.J. Naert (1838-1910). Naert, a Prix-de-Rome winner and teacher at the Brussels academy, worked primarily in an eclectic neo-Renaissance style. To make a name for himself in the Netherlands, Evers entered competitions from Brussels, winning several awards. His designs from this time reflect the architectural climate in which he found himself in Brussels. In 1882 Evers left Brussels and, in order to broaden his horizons even further, went to Austria-Hungary, where an entirely different, more classicist, architectural climate prevailed. It is known that he worked in Vienna until 1883 with 'Baurat' W. Stiassny (1842-1910) and then in Budapest with Z. Quittner (1857-1918), but further details about this period of Evers' life are lacking. Finally, in 1885, enriched by some ten years of European study and work experience, Evers returned to the Netherlands. In 1887, following his appointment at the Academy, Evers moved to Rotterdam and then in 1902, following his appointment at the Polytechnic School, to Delft. Until his retirement at the age of seventy-one in 1926, he held a steady job in public service. His long teaching career meant that his architectural oeuvre is not particularly large. Predilection for painterliness and central construction What is striking on a first look at Evers' architectural oeuvre is that it is not dominated by designs for monumental buildings based on an academic floor plan and designed in a language of form based on classical orders, as might initially be expected on the basis of his views profiled over many years. Rotterdam's city hall is actually the only and at least the only executed design that meets such a qualification, although here too there is no question of an implemented order architecture. It is typical in this respect that the term 'painterly', which can be regarded as one of the few constants in Evers' oeuvre, plays no role in any of his theoretical writings. The term 'picturesque' referred to an architectural composition in which, often on the basis of an informal, irregular floor plan, a variety of visual impressions was intended through an alternation of building volumes and architectural elements. A regularly recurring painterly element in Evers' oeuvre is often the silhouette of a stair tower that defines the character of a building. In Evers' relatively small oeuvre there is a gradual stylistic development. Most of the designs from his 'Wanderjahre' and the first part of his Rotterdam period were executed in the then 'en vogue' picturesque Neo-Renaissance style, in which Evers combined elements of the Flemish and Dutch Renaissance. This was a style that suited Evers, and his drawing regularly garnered praise. From 1890 onward, his style became more eclectic and his designs reflect the influence of his interest in Byzantine and Romanesque architecture and in central construction, about which he would also publish. In his life's work, the highly eclectic Rotterdam City Hall, on which he worked for ten years (1910-1920), Evers combined a French Renaissance construction with Dutch stepped gables and parts in Egyptian, Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic styles while modeling the main hall after an oriental central building. The tower rising from the courtyard also gives the whole a picturesque character. The town hall is the most striking concretization of Evers' ideas. Important role in architectural education For the most part, Evers' life served architectural education. He taught for more than forty years, from 1887 until 1902 as head professor at the Academy of Visual Arts and Technical Sciences in Rotterdam, and then until 1928 as professor at the Polytechnic School and its successor, the Technische Hogeschool in Delft. As a teacher, Evers was true to his views of the inspired artist starting from his own individuality. He saw it as his job to initiate talents into architecture and to guide them until they could go their own way. In 1926, Evers went into retirement. Evers as historian His lessons in the history of architecture led Evers to write his own history of architecture, "De architectuur in hare hoofdtijdperken. The book appeared from 1901 in separate installments, which were combined into a first volume in 1905 and a second volume in 1911. The book made the first widespread use of photographs, in addition to drawings, of structures. The book covers European architectural history broadly up to Evers' own time, including the architecture of Egypt, the Middle East and Islam; American architecture is not included. Lock Evers garnered much appreciation for his work in his lifetime, but did not escape criticism either. While he was widely praised as a teacher, his "magnum opus" as an architect was often maligned. While he enjoyed teaching and the contact with his students, the atmosphere surrounding the construction of the Rotterdam Town Hall, which he experienced as hostile, led Evers, who was always cheerfully characterized, to the greatest moments of doubt in his life. Nevertheless, he remained convinced of the correctness of the path he had chosen. He left judgment to later generations: "Have I erred or failed in my work? Time will tell!' After his death in 1929, the 'Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant' spoke of the loss of 'an unforgettably great Dutchman'. Education: Academy The Hague/1875-1876; Academy Antwerp/1876-1877. Additional positions: Architectura et Amicitia/member/1883-1890; Architectura et Amicitia/board member/1885-1887; Bouwkunst en Vriendschap/board member/1890-1902; Bouwkunst en Vriendschap/member monuments committee/1894; Bouwkunst en Vriendschap/ honorary chairman/1902-1929; Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst/member/1891-1929; Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst/principal board member/1894-1897; Bouwkundig Weekblad/editorial board member/1895-1897; Great Honorary Competition Society for the Advancement of Architecture/judge member/1902; Rotterdamse Kunstkring/member/1893-1902; Rotterdamse Kunstkring/member exhibition committee/1896; Rotterdamse Kunstkring/vice-chairman/1898;International Architects' Congress Brussels/Dutch delegate/1900; International Congress of Architects Vienna/Dutch delegate/1908; International Congress of Architects Rome/Dutch delegate/1911; Committee on preparation for construction of Royal Stables Paleis Het Loo/member/1905-1910; Restoration Committee on facade Paleis op de Dam/member/1914-1915; State Committee on preparation for the Foundation of a State Architecture Museum/member/from 1918; Rijkscommissie voor de Monumentenzorg/member/about 1925; Prijsvraag Vredespaleis/advisor jury/1906; Bouwkunstontwerpen wereldtoonstelling Brussel 1910/member jury/1910; Schoonheidscommissie Park Zorgvliet Den Haag/member/1912; Schoonheidscommissie gemeente Delft/member/1922-1926; Comite neerlando-belge d'art civique ter voorbereiding wederopbouw Belgie/member/1915; Commissie gedenkteken G.J. de Jongh Rotterdam/member/1917; Raad van Bestuur Academie Den Haag/member/1905-1912; Academie Rotterdam/board member/; TH Delft/member senate/1926-1929; Academie Rotterdam/head of department of architecture/1887-1902; TH Delft/ professor of architecture/1902-1926; Competition city hall Zeist/jurorylid/; Competition for a monumental fountain at the intersection of 's Gravendijkwal and Mathenesserlaan Rotterdam/jurorylid/; Competition honorary diploma t.International Bakery Exhibition Amsterdam/ jury member/; Competition for new entrance and new administration building Blijdorp Zoo Rotterdam/ jury member/; Competition for water tower Wassenaar/ jury member/