Joost Baljeu (Middelburg, 1925 - 1991) trained as a drawing teacher at the Institute for Arts and Crafts Education in Amsterdam during World War II. After completing military service (1946-1948), Baljeu worked in a bookstore and painted in his spare time. At that time, he discovered the many avant-garde movements of the first half of the 20th century and, influenced by them, began to work in an abstract style. In 1954, he quit his job and became a full-time artist. During this same period, he discovered De Stijl and began looking for possibilities for an integration of architecture and visual art. Together with the architect Dick van Woerkom and the sculptor C. Visser, Baljeu designed a community center in Amsterdam-North in 1955, with Baljeu responsible for two monumental murals. Until 1964, Van Woerkom and Baljeu would create a series of maquettes, in which they tried to apply ideas of Theo van Doesburg on the integration of architecture and visual art. Even after the collaboration with Van Woerkom ended, Baljeu remained interested in architecture and urban planning. In 1973-1974 he worked on the "Housing System Utopian Project (HSUP)" in which he tried to find a solution to the monotony of functionalist housing. He also made furnishing plans for public space with art objects in places such as Tilburg and Almere. Joost Baljeu died in 1991. biographical data ± 1940 Lives in Bilthoven, attends Municipal High School in Utrecht. 1943-1946 Training as a drawing teacher at the Institute for Art Education in Amsterdam. 1946-1948 Military service 1948-1955 Works in bookstore in Amsterdam; paints in spare time. 1950-1952 Part-time study MO Dutch 1952 Starts painting again 1953-1954 Teaches course "Color as a Formative Element in Architecture" at the Academy of Visual Arts in Rotterdam. 1954 Quits job and becomes full-time painter. Study trip to France. First reliefs 1955 Cooperation with architect Dick van Woerkom and sculptor C. Visser. 1955-1964 Cooperation with architect Dick van Woerkom. 1957 Editor of magazine Parnas. 1957-1972 Lecturer at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. 1958-1959 Lecturer in Art Department at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. 1958-1964 Founder and editor-in-chief of Structure magazine. 1975 Winner of the Sikkens Prize for "Tomorrow Can Be Architecture."