(Bonas Essay by S. Alberts; abridged version) A.A. Kok (1881-1951) Abel Antoon Kok was born in Dordrecht in 1881. His father, Theodorus Kok, was a construction engineer. In 1885, the family moved to Amsterdam. Abel started in 1896 as an apprentice with a carpenter and took evening classes at the Industrieschool der Maatschappij voor den werkden Stand. In 1901 he started as a supervisor and draughtsman with Posthumus Meyes and F.W.M. Poggenbeek. In 1906 this training was completed and Kok himself began teaching at the industry school, where he would be associated until 1911. In 1908 he started an office together with A.R. Hulshoff. A year later he married Agnes Maria Christina Buttinger. In 1911, his son Ysbrand was born, who would also become an architect. Together with Hulshoff, Kok had commissions for such projects as a residential group of patients and several villas. The design style is very diverse, sometimes even combining neo-classical, neo-gothic and country elements in one house. They probably followed the client's wishes very closely in doing so. In 1915 Hulshoff became director of buildings at the Public Works Department in Amsterdam. He arranged for Kok to be hired as the first architect. Kok stayed there until about 1920, when he started his own business. At Public Works, he had already begun the restoration of the Militias Building on the Singel in Amsterdam and completed it on his own. This was followed by many restorations of churches and iconic houses. In the early 1920s, Kok lived in Bussum, but his office was always located in Amsterdam, first at Singel 119 and later at Herengracht 495. Important clients were association Hendrick de Keyser and the Wijnhuisfonds in Zutphen. Abel Kok died in 1951, aged 70. Restoration Vision A somewhat different restoration vision emerges from the various restoration plans than from Kok's articles. In the articles for Heemschut, Kok advocates great restraint in reconstructions. The plans show that 19th-century interventions are almost always removed, often with the result that per façade the windows have a similar layout, for example all cross windows, or all 18th-century windows. Often the first floor is also a century younger than the layers above. Vanished gable tops are usually not supplemented, but often reconstruction drawings of them have been made. As a result, it is not clear whether the additions did not go through for financial or restoration ethical reasons. Editorial work Cook joined the editorial board of Architectura in 1908, also became secretary in 1909, for about a year and a half, and remained on the editorial board until 1912. His departure from this editorial board may have been related to the arrival of Jan de Meyer in 1912, who took over Kok's position as secretary. In any case, there was not good contact between the two restoration architects later on. Kok helps found Heemschut in 1911, and is involved from the beginning of its publications in the magazine De Bouwwereld. When Heemschut starts its own magazine in 1924, Kok is the editor and secretary with his office serving as the editorial address. With this he is involved in almost all activities; board announcements, discussion of cases handled, everything is described by him in a light-hearted, humorous style on behalf of the secretary. Heemschut works with correspondents, who keep an eye on matters in the region. Special is the association's design service; if a design causes a lot of commotion in a municipality, the association provides an improved design. It is not clear from the articles in Heemschut whether Kok collaborated in advising municipalities; this seems likely. However, other architects were certainly involved in this advisory work. Starting in the late 1920s, the Bond Heemschut regularly organizes small exhibitions of failed designs and their improvements, in an attempt to educate those involved or to educate them in good taste. Kok writes articles under his own name about the building history of buildings he has restored. Remarkably, he meticulously accounts for his choices in restoration. On several occasions he quotes Ruskin, saying that the building is the most important source in the search for the various stages of construction. If there is too little information, he refrains from reconstruction, whereas that was often done in those days. For this reason, Kok is highly critical of his colleague Jan de Meyer. When Kok finds remains of window frames, he usually opts for reconstruction of the oldest type. In the late 1920s, Heemschut becomes an important advocate of banning advertisements along highways, cutting down trees for road widening, and stopping the filling of canals. Kok himself, for example, wrote very vehemently about whaling and birds caught for export. In the early twentieth century, many separate interest groups arise such as the Dutch Windmill and Association for the Preservation of Nature Monuments, which take over tasks from Heemschut. Many board members are in multiple interest groups, so at that time it does not matter much who does what. Kok would continue to fulfill the secretariat and editorship until 1946 and thus largely determined the image and appearance of the Heemschut Association. Various documents show that he belonged to the progressive wing of the association; for example, he was against "false antiquities" and in favor of the afsluitdijk. Presumably because of angry letters he then suddenly speaks neutrally about the afsluitdijk and also emphasizes the negative consequences for the fishing villages and its inhabitants. In another article about Leiden, he praises a contemporary structure and disapproves of a historicizing one. His views on the profession are expressed extensively in the numerous reviews of disapproved designs and some of his own articles. These show that Kok opposes contractors designing buildings and advocates protection of the architect's title. He also deplores the disappearance of the material and professional knowledge of carpenters and masons due to the increasing prefabrication in construction. As a restoration architect, he further struggles to obtain suitable building materials, especially nut beams, profiled bricks and matching types of natural stone. Starting in 1939, Heemschut began a series of books, many of which are by Kok, such as "Amsterdam Residential Houses" (1941) and "The Historical Beauty of Amsterdam" (1945). Kok was also a board member for the Hendrick de Keyser Association, where he reviewed many plans. He also carried out several restorations for the Association. Atlas Kok Kok began collecting old photographs and construction drawings early in his career. This resulted in the Atlas Kok, a collection of three centuries of maps, drawings, building plans, prints, photographs and postcards, especially about Amsterdam. This includes, for example, designs by A.C. Bleys and G.B. Salm, as well as a large number of anonymous 18th-century architectural drawings. Meischke suggests that Kok in particular saw Bleys as a model. The Amsterdam part of the Atlas rests in the Amsterdam Municipal Archives; the remainder has passed into private hands. The exhibition held in 1984 was accompanied by a catalog by M. Beek. Kok used the visual material for his many restorations. When Kok died in 1951, many restorations were in preparation. His son Ysbrand, who had already worked extensively with his father, took over these works. His oeuvre is quite large, and includes, for example, almost all the almshouses of Haarlem and many village churches. Remarkably, Ysbrand is more inclined to apply reconstructions.