(Bonas Essay by R. van Beekum; abridged version) G.F. la Croix (1877-1923) La Croix was born in Amsterdam on April 9, 1877. Father La Croix was a carpenter. Their father's profession will have put Guillaume on the trail of the building trade. In doing so, he fits into a long Dutch tradition in which many (including J. Baanders, B.T. Boeyinga, J. Crouwel, C. Kruyswijk, J.F. Repko, J.F. Staal, F.A. Warners) became architects from their fathers' building trades profession. This input, mainly practical and little theoretical in nature, and in particular the inherited craft knowledge, are possible explanations for the dominance of the Amsterdam School in the period 1920-1930. It is not known with certainty where Guillaume received his theoretical and practical training in the building trade. Several private training institutes for architecture existed in the capital, and the opportunities for practical training with a carpenter were numerous. Between Guillaume's application as an aspiring member of the Amsterdam society Architectura et Amicitia in 1896 and the start of his work as a draftsman at the successful office of Ed. Cuypers, in the mid-1900s, will have given these courses their due. In all likelihood, La Croix suffered from tuberculosis from the age of twenty, a common disease for which there was no cure at the time and from which people slowly succumbed. Guillaume hung out a lot with his younger brother Henri and with fellow draftsman Johan van der Mey he also went out to sketch, rural architecture being their special interest. Eduard Cuypers office La Croix began working as an assistant draftsman at Eduard Cuypers' office in June 1900. It is possible that Van der Mey, who had been with the firm for three years, played a role in his arrival. Cuypers' style of management and his regular absences gave the talented among his designers a fair amount of freedom. They could also draw liberally on magazines and books from his library. La Croix must have felt like a fish out of water, and his talents as a graphic and furniture designer in particular developed here. In Cuypers' view, architecture had to be an expression of the creator's personality. His key collaborators emphatically adopted and practiced this attitude. When La Croix arrived, the then sixteen-year-old Michel de Klerk had already worked at the firm for two years and Van der Mey for three. Piet Kramer joined in 1904. From the beginning, La Croix hung out a lot with Van der Mey's contemporary. Whether La Croix also had a share in one of no less than four designs Cuypers submitted for the international competition for a Peace Palace in The Hague in 1906 is not known, but a contribution is likely. La Croix and Van der Mey In La Croix's estate is a sketch design for a company stamp, indicating a possible collaboration between La Croix and Van der Mey. Collaboration between associates within the firm will have been an issue more often. Within the large bureaus, there was frequent discussion about mentioning the name of the actual designer. As long as such a mention was not a practice, cashing in on experience in an office under one's own name was a beckoning prospect. Being able to replace the Cuypers stamp on drawings with their own would be confirmation of that. If a moment to put their money where their mouth was, La Croix's return from The Hague in late 1905 was the most obvious time. Both, La Croix and Van der Mey had by now proven for themselves that they could independently handle large projects, La Croix in The Hague with the Heilig Hart School, and Van der Mey with his work on various stations of the Noordooster Locale Railway Company. Nothing further is known of this collaboration. Bureau A. Jacot In 1908, La Croix transferred to the office of architect A. Jacot. There was no question here of a studio-like setting and an often absent director. However, Jacot, like Cuypers, did have a good hand in attracting young talented employees, such as J.F. Repko, J.L. Crouwel and later C.J. Blaauw. With a tight hand, Jacot ran a large and successful firm with commercial commissions for such prominent department stores as New England, Hirsch, De Bonneterie and large villas for the wealthy. The firm had a reputation for building quickly and knew how to match the nature of the commission and the client's taste. The firm worked in various styles, initially Neo-Renaissance, later including Art Nouveau elements, and in Um 1800 style. Jacot's stores were highly sought after by the public and clients. The public found them cozy and inviting, which boosted sales, and which in turn delighted the clients. In progressive Architectura et Amicitia circles, the work was controversial. While working for Jacot, La Croix did design under his own name and published several designs in Architectura, when he had become editor of the magazine. Independent architect While La Croix was still salaried, his former companions at Cuypers were by now beginning to make a name for themselves as independent architects. Van der Mey with the Scheepvaarthuis, De Klerk with the first housing block on the Spaarndammerplantsoen, and Kramer with the house for Lesser Naval Personnel in Den Helder. Finally, in early 1914, La Croix established his office in Amsterdam. In 1916, La Croix designed a storefront for the firm NV 't Woonhuys on Vijzelstraat, roughly on the site of the current Carlton Hotel. The building held a promise of monumental elegance. Due to the widening of Vijzelstraat, the design was not realized. From the generous compensation that NV 't Woonhuys received when the Vijzelstraat properties were expropriated, a number of properties on Keizersgracht were purchased. Here, two years later, a new storefront arose, built by A. Jacot, which bore some resemblance to La Croix's earlier design. His design was then published in Wendingen. The World War that broke out in August 1914 soon meant a sharp decline in building activity, even though the Netherlands was neutral. Welcome, then, was a small commission for the remodeling of a storefront at 113 Kalverstraat.Stained glass windows were supplied by glass studio Bogtman in Haarlem. It is unclear whether these were made to a design by La Croix or Bogtman. La Croix was also involved in various events within Architectura et Amicitia, including the design for the aforementioned anniversary exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in 1915. Undoubtedly unpaid work. The offer to become a paid advisor to the committee that would advise on the reconstruction in North Holland after the 1916 flood came at just the right time. A varied oeuvre La Croix's work is extremely varied. Not only did he design various building types such as homes, stores, country houses, a factory and a museum, but also book covers, posters and advertisements. In addition, stained glass windows and furniture. His designs, because of their austere linear design, interspersed with rich ornamentation, deviate rather from the volplastic direction with which the Amsterdam School is usually associated. Rather, they bear witness to an individual language of form, although it has clear Viennese and German influences. The sober, austere buildings are at once representative and functional. Although La Croix's oeuvre does not seem extensive, with over eighty works, and some of them remained sketches and were not realized, it must be remembered that they were designed in a period of less than eight years, between 1915 and his death at the age of 46 in 1923, interrupted once more by a number of periods of illness. The manliness and inertia later attributed to La Croix should be viewed in that light. Additional functions: Society "Architectura et Amicitia"/member/1896-1923/board member/1914-1916;magazine "Architectura"/editor/1910-1911;Voorbereidend en Hooger Bouwkunst Onderricht VHBO/docent/1919-1922;Adviescommissie voor den herbouw in de overstromde gebieden van Noord-Holland/member/1916-1917;Adviescommissie voor bouwontwerpen en uitbreidingsplannen in Noord-Holland/member/1921-1923/ Archives: Archives NAi Rotterdam:G.F. la Croix/archive (CROI);W. la Croix/archive (CROX);Exhibition Board/archive (TENT);Jubilee exhibition/archive (TJUB);Eibink & Snellebrand/archive (EIBI);Cuypers/archive(CUYP);J. de Meyer/archive (MEYE);NV 't Woonhuys/archive (WOON);J. Gratama/archive (GRAT);Aanneming-Maatschappij De Kondor/archive (KOND);H.P. Berlage/archive (BERL);Academie van Bouwkunst Amsterdam/archive (ABAM);Stadsarchief Amsterdam:Baanders, J. de Meyer, Beeldbank;Noord-Hollands Archief Haarlem, (NHA) archive W. Bogtman;archive Adviescommissie Bouwontwerpen;Waterlands Archief Purmerend, archive Marken 1813-1959;Stadsdeel Amsterdam Oost/Watergraafsmeer, archive BWT;University Library Ghent, furniture collection;Fotomuseum Rotterdam, collection B. Eilers