Ben Merkelbach was born in Amsterdam in 1901 and died in 1961. He trained as an architect at the Haarlem School for Architecture, Decorative Arts and Art Crafts from 1916 to 1921. At the same time, Ch.J.F. Karsten, H. van den Bosch, K. Groenewegen, H. van de Pauwert and P. Verschuyl also attended that school. Together with them Merkelbach would later found De 8. After finishing school, Merkelbach worked in the office of the Haarlem architect Van Loghem. There was not much work for him then, so Merkelbach left for Belgium with his old study friend Van de Pauwert in 1922. With architect Huib Hoste, he worked on the rebuilding of Belgium after World War I. Merkelbach produced several unexecuted designs, including a competition design for architectural firm Van Loghem in 1923 and a design for a cottage near Brussels in 1924. In 1926, back with Van Loghem, he built several houses. In 1927, he left for Frankfurt, where he assisted M. Stam as a draftsman in the preparation of residential area Hellerhof. Besides Stam, at this time he met J.M. de Casseres, with whom he made a competition design for the League of Nations Palace in Geneva. Merkelbach was also still in touch with his former fellow students. In 1926, Merkelbach and Groenewegen made a competition design for a water tower in Wassenaar. In 1927, the Vereniging Architectenkern De 8 was founded with the aim of: 'promoting the flowering of rational architecture in the Netherlands' and 'to agitate against non-rational architecture and urban planning'. Until 1934, Jan Duiker was the chairman and Merkelbach the secretary. Merkelbach was the motor and binding factor of the association and took over the chairmanship from Duiker in 1934. In 1932, the Amsterdam association De 8 and the Rotterdam association Opbouw decided to establish the magazine De 8 en Opbouw. This magazine was to promote the New Building. Merkelbach was very active as editor of the magazine. The magazine ceased to exist in 1942, but the association continued to exist. Merkelbach also played an important role in coordinating the activities of the Dutch group of Les Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM). After 1947, Merkelbach held many coordinating positions. For example, he was supervisor in Amsterdam-West, getting many architects of the Nieuwe Bouwen movement involved in the Reconstruction. From 1947 to 1957, he served on the executive board of the Netherlands Institute for Housing and Urban Development. He was concerned with the problematic relationship between urban planning and architecture. In this context, the acceptance of his appointment as city architect of Amsterdam in 1956 is fitting. In 1929, Merkelbach married Bep van Doesburg. They had a daughter in 1930. His wife died in 1937. In 1940, Merkelbach married Helena Mengelberg. In addition to the many positions Merkelbach held in various organizations, he ran an architectural firm from 1929 to 1956. He associated with Ch.J.F. Karsten (1904-1979) from 1929 to 1949 to form "Merkelbach and Karsten, Architects." From 1949 to 1955, Elling was Merkelbach's new partner and the firm was called "Merkelbach and Elling, Architects." Both in the cooperation with Karsten and in the cooperation with Elling, Merkelbach was mainly the organizer and Karsten and Elling were the designers. Merkelbach and Karsten realized a small number of private residential houses. But Merkelbach's main interest was in public housing and the construction of commercial buildings. Merkelbach was an outspoken idealist; his goal was to increase the quality of life through the living and working environment. Merkelbach and Karsten's ideas on public housing were expressed in the Amsterdam projects including: Pleinen Zuid; competition design for the construction of cheap working-class housing; competition design for the Landlust district in Amsterdam-West; Merkelbach's involvement in Bosch and Lommer and Frankendael district. After Duiker's death in 1935, Duiker's wife joined Merkelbach and Karsten's firm. Works were carried out under the name of Merkelbach, Karsten and Duiker. Merkelbach and Karsten's first business building was the AVRO studio. It can no longer be traced on what basis they were commissioned. After all, they had not yet built much; as founders of De 8, they were considered part of the New Building business movement. In preparation, they visited radio buildings abroad. Merkelbach was primarily interested in the technical side of studio construction and Karsten in design. They realized a high-profile building. Other important company buildings in their oeuvre included: the printing ink factory Graficolor N.V. in Amsterdam; Willem van Rijn N.V. in Amsterdam; the extension of the factory of the firm De Vries Robbé & Co in Gorinchem; Laboratorium Van het Ketjen in Amsterdam. During the war years, Merkelbach was active in the Core Group for Housing Architecture and Reconstruction, from 1943 simply called the Study Group on Housing Architecture. This study group wanted to ensure that high-quality reconstruction would take place after the end of the war. With the liberation, however, Merkelbach's activities in the Core Group came to an end. Indeed, in 1945 he and Karsten were condemned by the Honor Council for Architecture for continuing to work on projects such as Fokker, the AVRO studio and the Cinetone studios. Both were barred from public contracts until 1947 and prohibited from holding managerial positions in architectural organizations until 1950. In 1946, however, the verdict was reviewed by the Central Honor Council and they were reinstated. In 1949, Merkelbach dissolved the association with Karsten and associated with Elling. This association lasted until 1956, the year Merkelbach was appointed city architect of Amsterdam. Also in this partnership, Merkelbach was the organizer and Elling the designer. Important projects were NV Machinehandel "Mahez" in Amsterdam and the GAK office in Amsterdam. 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. According to Elling's conception of architecture, the interior was a very important part of the entire design and should therefore 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. In 1956, Merkelbach was appointed city architect of Amsterdam, relinquishing his private practice as an architect. Merkelbach would transfer his commissions to Elling in a year. But because Elling fell ill in 1956, this transition period lasted longer. The City of Amsterdam had not had a city architect since 1936. The appointment of a city architect in 1956 was prompted by a growing number of problems in Amsterdam. The housing of a number of metropolitan functions had been a problem for years, and the municipal apparatus seemed unable to cope with the problems. The city council was surprised and delighted by Merkelbach's candidacy. They were surprised that such a successful architect wanted to trade in his private practice for the city building mastership, and elated because of the confidence Merkelbach enjoyed in the architectural world and his familiarity with Amsterdam and the Public Works Department. An important motive for Merkelbach was his love of Amsterdam. Moreover, the collaboration with Elling was not easy, and it is easy to imagine that this position represented a personal restoration of honor for Merkelbach after his clash in 1945 with the Ereraad voor Architectuur. During his time as city architect, Merkelbach was involved in several issues: the changes in the Eastern Town Center, the location of the Stock Exchange, the orphanage, the RAI and the City Hall. The Town Hall design in particular caused Merkelbach much concern. He was unable to bring this affair to fruition because he died unexpectedly in 1961. After his death, the person and architect Merkelbach was widely appreciated.