(Bonas Essay by L. Lansink; abridged version) J.G. van Gendt (1866-1925) Adolf Leonard van Gendt was born in Alkmaar on April 18, 1835, the son of Johan Godart van Gendt and Henrietta Margaretha Thierens. Besides A.L. van Gendt, three more sons were born from the marriage of Van Gendt and Thierens, all of whom became architects or engineer-architects: Frederik Willem (Frits, 1831-1900), Johan Godart (Jan, 1833-1880) and Gerlach Jan (1838-1921). There was one daughter, Henrietta Margaretha (1837-). F.W. van Gendt worked as an engineer and architect in Amsterdam, The Hague and Arnhem. He contributed to the founding of the Genootschap Architectura et Amicitia and was editor of De Op-merker, for some time the Society's organ. In the late 1960s he was in charge of the demolition of a large number of fortresses, including Bergen op Zoom, Deventer and Groningen. J.G. van Gendt was a mathematician and architect and worked in Java from 1861 to 1864 and from 1878 in Japan, among other places, where he died in Yokohama in 1880. G.J. van Gendt was most likely employed as construction mechanic third class with the State Railways from October 1863. From 1867 to 1877 he was associated with his brother F.W. van Gendt, who left the work entirely to Gerlach Jan after 1877. Adolf Leonard (Dolf) van Gendt married Elisabeth Frederica van Elten on Jan. 22, 1864. They had three children: Johan Godart (1866), Elisabeth Frederica (869) and Adolf Daniël Nicolaas (1870). J.G. van Gendt jr. married Louise Catharina Landré on March 10, 1894. From this marriage a daughter was born: Elisabeth. Both brothers Van Gendt ALzn. were incorporated in 1896 as partners in the firm that their father had founded in Amsterdam in 1874. When he died on April 28, 1901, less than two months after his wife, he had not been active in the business for several years, which was continued by the two sons. J.G. van Gendt retired in 1914 for health reasons. He died in 1925, A.D.N. van Gendt on March 25, 1932. Father and sons Van Gendt A.L. van Gendt received his initial training at the Royal Academy of Arts in Amsterdam. As early as 1853, he was employed as an overseer in the construction of the cellular prison in Utrecht, which was carried out under the direction of his father. In the following years he was apprenticed to the architects J.G.J. van Roosmalen in Zwolle and L.J. Immink in Zaandam. In 1855 he carried out his first work independently: the villa Flevo Rama in Huizen.13 From 1857 to 1861 he was a superintendent at the execution of railroad works in Rotterdam and from 1861 to 1874 he was as construction and mechanical engineer second class at the State Railways, first in Alkmaar, later under the first engineer A.J. van Prehn, in Amsterdam, in charge of the construction of the Den Helder-Amsterdam railroad line (officially called Nieuwediep-Amsterdam), with all stations and engineering works. Already in the 1960s he was looking forward to another job. Around September 1874, Van Gendt was honorably discharged from the State Railways and established himself as an independent architect in Amsterdam. Where J.G. van Gendt received his initial training is not known. In the years 1890-1891, J.G. van Gendt spent some time in Berlin, probably to gain practical experience. According to other sketches, he was in Genoa on April 28, 1891, and later in Rome and Naples. He was probably working in his father's office during the years 1891-1892. It was not until January 1893 that both A.L. and J.G. van Gendt signed the designs for the streetcar depot on Willemsparkweg. Until the end of 1896, it remained customary for A.L. van Gendt and J.G. van Gendt to sign drawings, specifications and documents jointly. The shopping gallery on Raadhuisstraat from 1898 bears the signature 'A.L. van Gendt en Zonen. Architects'. Even after A.L. van Gendt's death, the two brothers initially maintained this name. Then they signed as 'Gebroeders van Gendt,' a name that remained in use even after 1914, when J.G. van Gendt left the firm, and was maintained even after A.D.N. van Gendt died in 1932, into the 1940s. In the monograph dedicated to him, A.D.N. van Gendt. Architect-Amsterdam, the youngest son of A.L. van Gendt emerges as a studious type. He felt, according to the anonymous author, attracted to the paternal business at an early age. At his own request, he received drawing lessons at the Quellinus School. After graduating from H.B.S. he immediately went into practice, first learning carpentry in the workshops of Mr. D. Schut. Then he became a draughtsman at the office of the architect G.W. Vixseboxse and at the same time took several classes at the arts and crafts school. From 1895 to 1896 A.D.N. van Gendt, like his brother five years earlier, also stayed abroad. Upon his return to Amsterdam in 1896, he and his brother became partners in his father's firm. Bureau Van Gendt: extensive and varied production A.W. Weissman wrote in De Opmerker that when he came to work there in 1876, Van Gendt's office was very busy. The editors added: 'During a long series of years, the Van Gendt office developed an almost unsurpassed productivity, to the extent that this architect sometimes had 100 lots in progress at the same time'. In addition to Weissman, J.G. van Gendt and A.D.N. van Gendt, E. Breman, G.A. Zeeman, H.J. Wigman, C. van Epen and later, after the death of A.L. van Gendt, F.A. Warners and W.J. Klok also received part of their training at the Van Gendt firm. The bureau functioned independently, but in the case of a number of large or far out-of-Amsterdam projects it collaborated with other architects. Often the Van Gendts played the role of - in contemporary terms - "consulting engineers. In addition to its size, the firm also left behind a varied oeuvre - in addition to its repertoire associated with trade and industry. Entry into the world of architecture From his early years, A.L. van Gendt was a member of the Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst. His name often appears in meeting reports. From 1874 to 1878 he served on the board, the first three years as second secretary and the last year as treasurer. From 1874 to 1876 he also served as commissioner. A.D.N, van Gendt and J.G. van Gendt repeatedly participated in competitions of the Society, but were at first mainly active in the society Architectura et Amicitia. A.D.N, van Gendt later transferred to the Maatschappij tot Bevordering der Bouwkunst, where he was accepted as a new member after being balloted at the meeting on October 23, 1903. Technical ingenuity and stylistic flexibility That A.L. van Gendt was 'extremely liberal' in terms of aesthetics (in the words of A.W. Weissman) was already evident from competition designs he submitted in 1856 and 1867. A "vestibule in a distinguished house," he designed, according to his own explanatory notes, "free in medieval forms," since these would increasingly become the prevailing style (which, in the jury's opinion, did not apply to residential houses). Eleven years later, Van Gendt considered "the Greek architectural style the architecture of our time. However, this was a monument to Hendrick de Keyser and Jacob van Campen and they deserved, the jury said, 'a more vivid memory' of their buildings. How flexible and opportunistic A.L. van Gendt could be as an independent architect was evident in the case of his magnum opus, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw from the years 1883-1888, about which he himself published repeatedly. About the architectural style, he could get nothing more profound out of his pen than "Renaissance style with application of sand and brick, giving a cheerful character. This technical approach of A.L. van Gendt, undoubtedly influenced by the start of his career as a construction and mechanical engineer with the State Railways, is also evident in his publications, which are never architectural-theoretical, but always practical in nature. In this respect, the Van Gendt brothers followed in their father's footsteps. Their traditionalist and historicist building styles did not prevent them from using reinforced concrete skeletons for the main load-bearing structure of a building very early on.