(Bonas essay, Michiel Kruidenier, April 1994) Dick Greiner (1891-1964) Dick Greiner, born November 6, 1891, educated himself almost entirely as an autodidact and entirely on his own. He helped his father, who was a carpenter, took classes at the "Ooefenschool voor Teekenonderricht" and trained as a carpenter for four years at the evening trade school, both in Amsterdam. After a large amount of self-study and following several more courses, he worked as a supervisor and draughtsman at the architectural offices of Ed.Cuypers (1859-1927) from 1909-1917, with F.A. Warners (1888-1952) from ca.1913-1915, then with J. Gratama and G. Versteeg and finally with G.J. Rutgers (1877-1962). In 1920 he established himself as an independent architect and immediately became a member of the society Architectura et Amicitia, which he remained until 1927. From 1946 to 1961 he would be a member again. In addition, in 1922 he received his diploma (cum laude) at the Voortgezet en Hooger Bouwkunst Onderricht (V.H.B.O.), a course founded ca. 1908 by the architect W. Kromhout (1864-1940). Dick Greiner would several years later become not only secretary of the board of this course, but also lecturer on "Architectural Design. He was also a board member of the Amsterdam circle of the Union of Dutch Architects (B.N.A.). Dick Greiner could do much, if not everything. He knew a lot about materials, made furniture and lamps, designed stained glass windows, painted, drew and watercolored, and crafted everything himself, right down to a wooden Christmas tree. His wife danced, drew and painted a lot in the 1920s. Their son Onno, now an architect himself, knows that Dick Greiner sometimes took his trowel out of a bricklayer's hands to show the painter how he wanted it done. All in all, he was a practical man. A house had to be practically designed; above all, you had to be able to live in it. Design, one of Dick Greiner's greatest strengths, came second. He therefore had his objections to the Amsterdam School. He admired De Klerk (1884-1923), his buildings were beautiful but unusable, and he described Piet Kramer (1881-1961) as grand, genius and a little strange. J.P. Kloos (1905-2001), on the other hand, had his admiration, although he found his architecture a bit dry. His greatest admiration went to Duiker (1890-1935), Van Loghem (1881-1940), J.J.P. Oud (1890-1963) and the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). Unfortunately, Dick Greiner himself published hardly any of his thinking on architecture and related matters. The handful of his articles deal with some of the buildings he designed. For example, there are articles on Betondorp in the Watergraafsmeer in Amsterdam (1925), the club building of the Sailing and Rowing Association 'Nieuwe Meer' in Aalsmeer (1927), the Haarlem Household and Industrial School in Haarlem (1935), the renovation of the Heeren kledingmagazijn W. Wessel Bzn. on Dam 4 in Amsterdam (1935), the Music High School on Albert Hahnplantsoen in Amsterdam (1943) and the Post and Telegraph Office in Heemstede (1964). The only two exceptions are two articles from the Bouwkundig Weekblad. In one article from April 13, 1948, Greiner argues for closer cooperation between architects on the one hand and sculptors on the other. He blames architects for their apparent disinterest in sculpture. In the other article of August 17, 1954, Dick Greiner warns against bungling by inexperts during renovations. Indeed, this can lead to accidents, including collapse and irreparable damage. Publications by others in which Dick Greiner is mentioned, on the other hand, are legion. In fact, they are all about his work and about half are about Betondorp. All of these publications, with a few exceptions, are laudatory. Greiner appears in the standard "picture works" of the 1920s and 1930s, such as, for example, the books by J.H.W. Leliman, J.G. Wattjes, Sevenhuysen, J.P. Mieras and the series Modern Architecture in the Netherlands. In magazine articles from that time, his work is regularly discussed by well-known architects, including J.M. van Hardeveld, J.B. van Loghem, J. Roodenburgh (1886-1972), B.T. Boeijinga (1886-1969) and C.B. Posthumus Meijes. Even today Dick Greiner is increasingly seen as an important architect. An interesting point here is, that in the past he was always tucked away in the 'Amsterdam School' box, but now he is moving further and further out of that box. In retrospect, it turns out that he did not belong to the Amsterdam School at all. One must admit that his early designs - especially his furniture designs - have the same Amsterdam School detailing. A large dose of (experimental) forms, in flowing, abstract lines, is used by him, but one increasingly begins to see that, especially in later work, design never comes first, functionality does. The following conversation between Dick Greiner and his son Onno, which takes place in the Spaarndammer neighborhood, illustrates this well: "Do you like that?" "Yes!" "It's by De Klerk, a particularly great architect. It is also magnificent. But you have to remember that the people who live in it can't look out their windows when they sit down." "Why not?" "Because the parapets are a meter and a half high. Other than that, it's beautiful." "But how are those people supposed to live in it?" "Well. They'll see for themselves. I would never do something like that as an architect, I can't do that. But De Klerk just does that, when he makes something beautiful." On the other hand, Dick Greiner did not belong to the so-called New Building either. This he found too dry, too barren. As a carpenter, he had too much appreciation for the detail, the ornament. In my opinion, Dick Greiner therefore falls into the group of the schoolless, the truants of architecture. This group includes architects such as J.F. Staal (1879-1940), B.T. Boeyinga, J. Roodenburg and G.J. Rutgers - all friends of Dick Greiner - but also architects such as Van Loghem and, to a lesser extent, A.J. Westerman (1884-1966). Onno Greiner also sees his father as a great student of Kromhout and De Bazel (1869-1923). Dick Greiner's oeuvre is very diverse and well documented in the form of an extensive archive. He designed basically everything, both new construction and remodeling. The oeuvre includes not only buildings, including factories, residential houses, office buildings, stores, theaters and schools, but also smaller objects, including jetties, book covers, furniture, sleighs, clocks, etc. When carrying out his first commissions, he had not yet established himself as an independent architect. These were mainly factory and office buildings in Hoorn and Amsterdam (1916-1918) and also two residential houses on the Jodenhouttuinen and Koningslaan in Amsterdam (1918-1919). Dick Greiner, from the moment he started working as an independent architect in 1920, immediately acquired a number of good commissions, including eight residential houses with a small school on Nic. Maesstraat and Banstraat in Amsterdam (1920-1921). Soon after, he received his most famous and largest commission, which was to build a large number of houses, stores and accessories in the garden village Watergraafsmeer in Amsterdam. In the center of this garden village, the architects J. Hulsebosch, W. Greve, Greiner, D. Roosenburg (1887-1962), J.B. van Loghem, J. Gratama (1877-1947) and H.W. Valk experimented extensively with various concrete systems, in accordance with the wishes of the then director of Building and Housing Control (A. Keppler). This soon earned the garden village the nickname "Betondorp. Given the fact that Dick Greiner had achieved very little architecturally in this period, it is remarkable that it was he who was allowed to build the most important part of this garden village, namely the Brink and the surrounding streets. His work experience in 1922 was limited and certainly his experience with concrete construction. Perhaps his familiarity with the architectural firm Gratama and Versteeg, which was involved early on in the planning of garden village Watergraafsmeer, played a role in the choice of architect. It is also possible that his friendship with Keppler was the deciding factor. Another fairly large commission was to build houses in Zeeburg (1925). Again, this was a municipal housing complex, but this time intended to house "inadmissible families. The houses were built using the same concrete system that Dick Greiner had used in Betondorp, and had the same expressionist-cubist appearance. The housing complex was demolished in 1944, except for the gatehouse, by order of the Germans. Despite the proven architectural qualities of his works executed in concrete, Dick Greiner soon turned to moderate-expressionist brick construction. Despite the recession in the 1930s, he still managed to obtain many, albeit small commissions. These commissions were mainly renovations for Amsterdam private individuals. In the period 1941-1943, he rebuilt several buildings in Middelburg and Yerseke that had been destroyed by acts of war. A large proportion of his work at the end of and after the war involved building and remodeling theaters and cinemas. More than twenty designs by Dick Greiner, whether executed or not, are known in Waalwijk, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Amstelveen and The Hague, among other places. The last design by Dick Greiner, who died on November 11, 1964 in Amsterdam, dates from 1963. It is a design for a fireplace, the first design drawings of which date as far back as 1960. This seems like a sad end for an architect with an oeuvre so overwhelming, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Yet this is probably not the case, for Dick Greiner gave his all, for every design, small or large. Education: Ooefenschool voor Teekenonderricht, Amsterdam/; Avondambachtsschool Amsterdam/; Voortgezet en Hooger Bouwkunst Onderricht (VHBO)/-1922 Secondary activities: Pension Fund for the Architectural Offices/ treasurer/; Amsterdamse Kunstkring 'Kunst voor Allen'/member/; Genootschap Architectura et Amicitia/member/1920-1927; Genootschap Architectura et Amicitia/member/1946-1961; Voortgezet en Hooger Bouwkunst Onderricht (VHBO)/secretary of the board/; Voortgezet en Hooger Bouwkunst Onderricht (VHBO)/teacher 'Architectonisch ontwerpen'/; kring Amsterdam van de B.N.A./board member/