(abridged version Bonas Essay) H.A. van Anrooy (1885-1964) It is known that Henri Anton van Anrooy, son of a mediated lawyer in Amsterdam, worked for various architects at home and abroad early in his career, just after the turn of the century. He began his training with architect Theo Rueter in Blaricum and then worked at De Bazel's office in Bussum and with Berlage in Amsterdam. Later he made several trips and lived and worked in Vienna, Paris and Switzerland, where he came into contact with well-known and prominent architects. For example, he worked in Zurich with Karl Moser and E. Hess, in Lausanne with Van Dorser and in Vienna with none other than Joseph Hoffmann, the man behind the Wiener Werkstätte. Around 1913, Van Anrooy worked in Hagen in Westphalia for K.E. Osthaus and J.L.M. Lauweriks, and especially the latter appears to have played an important role in Van Anrooy's life. Little other work is known from that early period, probably due to the many travels and working for other architects. However, Van Anrooy did design a pavilion at the 1914 Werkbund exhibition in Cologne that featured sketches by Berlage. Around 1915, Van Anrooy seems to have settled back in the Netherlands, based in Hilversum. As a member of the architectural society Architectura et Amicitia, he participated in several exhibitions and received rave reviews for some villa designs. Some of the designs submitted by Van Anrooy are interesting because they are completely free of modern dogmas and, in the first place, of constructional dominance. They show a good feeling for the composition of masses and for the effect of color and lines. It is special and it is nice work. It shows good ideas, but is not realized, not thought of as built, a fault that clings to many modern German and Austrian projects. In the following years, van Anrooy received commissions that would make him more widely known and appreciated. He designed several trade fair stands, including for a copper crushing plant, the Vereenigde Zeep Fabrieken and for the Philips light bulb factories. In these interior commissions Van Anrooy distinguished himself from other architects and he soon enjoyed some fame in this field. J.P. Mieras devoted an article to Van Anrooy's work at the fairs outlining his developments. Central to the article is the attitude toward the task; "the architect is not a free creative artist but "expresses himself in his task. As an active member of A. et A., Van Anrooy was involved in the Society's innovations in 1917. He served on the Committee for Statutes Revision and was a member of the editorial board of Architectura along with H.Th. Wijdeveld, J. Gratama, R.N. Roland Holst, P. Kramer, C.J. Blaauw and Lauweriks. In 1918, with the dissolution of the magazine Architectura and the publication of Wendingen, the entire Architectura editorial staff would transfer to Wendingen. In 1924 and 1925, Van Anrooy was again a member of the editorial board of Wendingen. In 1921 Van Anrooy was accepted as a delegate member: the elite among the A.et A. architects. As editor, he took pen in hand only rarely; he wrote a critique in response to the exhibited competition entries for a Rijksacademie and a review of the Kunstnijverheid exhibition at the Academy in Rotterdam. Furthermore, Van Anrooy wrote about all sorts of subjects, but rarely about his own work or about his ideas about architecture. It is clear, however, that he could not appreciate the "craving for external beauty" in architecture. Two large commissions from that time have a key position in Van Anrooy's oeuvre and show Van Anrooy's commitment to some of the spiritual currents of the time. In 1923, he designed a school building for the Humanitarian School in Laren. The school, founded in 1903 by Prof. J. van Rees, had close ties to the International Brotherhood, a Christian anarchist agricultural colony in Blaricum. Van Anrooy learned about the ideas and ideals of the Brotherhood through his first teacher, architect Theo Rueter, who was one of the settlers in Blaricum. In the booklet that appeared on the occasion of the opening of the new school building in 1925, it can be read that "the austere tuneful sobriety of the entire building, which the architect H.A. van Anrooy with thoughtfulness so willed, in order to approach the spirit of sobriety and simplicity, which he sees embodied in the school, which after all owes its origin and its continued existence to the Blaricum `International Brotherhood'. Another project in which the ideas of the client were central was the construction of the Free Catholic Church in Amsterdam, realized in 1928-1929. This church is related to theosophy and the architect Lauweriks was active within this movement. Lauweriks was ordained a priest in 1923 and was chairman of the Amsterdam chapter. How the contacts with Van Anrooy went before the construction of this church is unclear, but most likely Lauweriks played a role in it. Lauweriks knew Van Anrooy from his time in Hagen and also from A. et A. The small church building is located on a corner and is incorporated into the facades of the adjacent building block, even though it has its own distinct volume characterized by a substantial gable roof. The simple exterior does not suggest a church, rather a small school, but a large pentagonal window and an ingeniously incorporated cross in another window reveal the actual function of the building. The interior exudes a similar austerity, lots of light and white walls. Van Anrooy's probably last executed design is an apartment building on Apollolaan in Amsterdam, realized in 1930-1931. This six-story residential block contains four spacious floor apartments. The entrance and the tessellation of the facade is remarkable and has similarities with earlier designs, such as the studio building and the Free Catholic Church. Especially recognizable is the use of lintels above the windows as a strong horizontal element and the graphic tessellation of the windows. In general, it can be said about Van Anrooy's work that it had a decidedly individual and recognizable style, which was also appreciated in his time. Especially in the early designs there is evidence of German and Viennese influence, gained during his study trips. This distinguishes him from contemporaries who worked much more with heavier masses, organic forms and decorations. In his stand designs and in Liberty's store remodeling, Van Anrooy shows his skills as an interior designer. Here, the emphasis is not on the environment in itself but is at the service of the exhibit. His empathy for the commercial goal earned him several interior commissions for trade fair stands and exhibitions. Designs from the second half of the 1920s show austerity, in which the interplay of lines and graphic tessellation remain recognizable. Perhaps that is why G. Fanelli, in his survey of modern Dutch architecture, characterized Van Anrooy as a Hague School architect. In my opinion, there are no arguments for this, at most there are some vague stylistic similarities. Van Anrooy's formal language is much more a consequence of his own development, in which Viennese influence should be thought of rather than Frank Lloyd Wright. Van Anrooy lived most of his life in Hilversum and had his architectural practice there. For a period he was active in the Amsterdam club life around A. et A. and later in the Hilversum Circle of the B.N.A.. Remarkably, no designs by Van Anrooy, who died in 1964, are known from 1930 onwards. The already small body of work spans barely twenty years, with the focus being in the 1920s. Education: Architectural firm Theo Rueter, Blaricum/;Architectural firm K.P. de Bazel, Bussum/;Architectural firm H.P. Berlage, Amsterdam/ Outside activities: Werkbund/member/;Architectura et Amicitia/member/1905-1936;Architectura/editor/1917;Wendingen/editor/1918, 1924-1925