J. Gratama (1877-1947), G. Versteeg (1872-1938) and J.W. Dinger (1891-1986) Jan Gratama was born in Groningen in 1877 and studied Architecture at the Polytechnic School in Delft. After various jobs as draftsman and teacher in The Hague and Delft, he settled in Amsterdam as an architect in 1908. The first years, however, he would draw attention not so much as an architect, but as a profiled administrator and polemical publicist. He was secretary of the Maatschappij tot Bevordering van de Bouwkunst, president of the society Architectura et Amicitia and publicist in the Bouwkundig Weekblad. From 1914 he worked with the architect Gerrit Versteeg (1872-1938) and from 1930 he would collaborate with J.W. Dinger. Gerrit Versteeg was born on August 2, 1872, in Vlaardingen, where his father was a farmer. In the early 1900s he married Hendrika Alida Costerus (born 1879). In Delft, Versteeg learned the carpenter's trade and then worked for an architect. For some time he was assistant to Prof. Sluyterman and Prof. Gugel. From 1901 to 1914, Versteeg was deputy director of the Municipal Works Department in Arnhem, headed by W.F.C. Schaap. Schaap focused primarily on urban planning, while Versteeg designed buildings. During this period, many schools and various utility buildings were created, such as the slaughterhouse, vegetable auction, streetcar depot and power station. Subsequently, Versteeg moved to Amsterdam, where he associated with J. Gratama in 1914. Both architects then focused mainly on residential construction. Furthermore, starting around 1916, they designed many transformer houses for the Provinciale Geldersche Electriciteits-Maatschappij (PGEM) in Gelderland. After 1930, Versteeg worked with his eldest son Gerrit Versteeg jr. Gratama sought ways to incorporate modern techniques and modern views on architecture into the existing Dutch traditions and the existing built environment. For example, Gratama was a pioneer in the use of concrete and gained fame, among other things, with a concrete warehouse in the P. Jacobszstraat in Amsterdam. Together with Versteeg and Berlage, he designed a housing complex in the Transvaal neighborhood and would himself design housing complexes in Amsterdam-Noord and the Watergraafsmeer. Gratama and Versteeg were also involved in the construction of the Geitenkamp neighborhood in Arnhem. With Dinger, Gratama was responsible for a number of branches of the Incassobank. In the early years he sided with the modernists and sought a connection to the Amsterdam School. Over the years, Gratama moved in a more traditional and historicizing direction. The office building 'De Bisschop', which he designed in 1934 on the corner of Dam Square and Rokin, marks Gratama's turning point and became the cause of a sharp polemic between supporters and opponents of modern building. Politically, too, Gratama would move further and further afield. In the 1920s he still worked with Berlage and Versteeg, both of whom were members of the social democratic SDAP. During the Occupation, he became an alderman in Amsterdam, leading to political difficulties after the war. Gratama died in 1947. The firm was continued by Jan Willem Dinger who was less profiled than his associate. Among other things, Dinger would work with I. Blomhert on the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital on Sarphatistraat in Amsterdam. In addition, Dinger realized a number of housing complexes in Arnhem. Finally, it is notable that over the years Dinger always received a large number of commissions from his native Lunteren, so that many of Dinger's projects were also realized there. J.W. Dinger died in 1986. Education: Delft Polytechnic School, architecture/ Additional activities: Maatschappij tot Bevordering van de Bouwkunst/ secretary/;Genootschap Architectura et Amicitia/ president/