Exploring architectural history through the Petroleumscapes of the Randstad to imagine new fossil-free futures

(1)

BULLETIN 2015 /3 VERENIGING V AN NEDERLANDSE KUNSTHIST O RICI 27

consider particular artifacts, such DVṘFHVKRXVLQJRUOHLVXUH sites.

Architectural historians are well SRVLWLRQHGWRVWXG\WKHcollective H̆HFWRIWKHVHFRPSDQLHVRQWKH creation of the built environment E\SXEOLFDQGSULYDWHDFWRUVDQG LWVSHUFHSWLRQE\WKHJHQHUDO SXEOLF7KHLQGXVWULDOSK\VLFDO ÀRZVRIRLOIURPWUDQVSRUWDWLRQ WRVWRUDJHUH¿QLQJDQGUHVDOH have emerged in interrelation with administrative and research installations, creating diverse spatial patterns and intercon-QHFWHGEXLOWIRUPV,HPSOR\WKH notion of petroleumscapes to FDSWXUHWKHVHÀRZVDQGVSDFHV DQGWKHLUVSHFL¿FVFRSHVDQG forms, both spatial and mental. ,QDGGLWLRQWRWKHVHSK\VLFDO manifestations, the companies also generate select mindscapes, DWHUPFRLQHGE\0DJRURK 0DUX\DPDDQGGHVFULEHGE\ Franco Bianchini in 2006 as “something which exists between WKHSK\VLFDOODQGVFDSHRIDFLW\ and people’s visual and cultural perceptions of it.” It includes the construction of space and iden-WLW\DVZHOODVFXOWXUHLQDQGIRU RQSHWUROHXPWKDW,DPFXUUHQWO\

pursuing at TU Delft. Oil, the PDLQHQHUJ\VRXUFHRIWKHODVW FHQWXU\KDVH[WHQVLYHO\VKDSHG our built environment and our OLIHVW\OHFRQQHFWLQJORFDOQDWL-onal and global spaces. Under-VWDQGLQJKRZRLOWKHPDLQHQHUJ\ VRXUFHRIWKHODVWFHQWXU\KDV come to be ubiquitous, will help XVLPDJLQHDOWHUQDWLYHHQHUJ\ practices.

Global corporations like the oil LQGXVWU\DUHSRZHUIXODFWRUV in the transformation of the built environment on multiple levels. In conjunction with pu-EOLFLQVWLWXWLRQVWKH\FRQVWUXFW landscapes, urban forms and functions, as well as buildings RIGLYHUVHVFDOHVW\SHVDQG forms. Often the results of their LQWHUYHQWLRQVDUHVWXGLHGE\ FRPSDQ\VSRQVRUHGMRXUQDOLVWV RUKLVWRULDQVRUVHSDUDWHO\E\ scholars from distinct discipli-nes. Engineers, geographers, or HFRQRPLVWVH[SORUH¿QDQFHDQG logistics; urban, environmental, or planning historians examine issues of land use and develop-ment or pollution, and cultural, architectural or art historians

Exploring Architectural History

Through the Petroleumscapes of

the Randstad to Imagine

New Fossil-free Futures

Door Carola Hein.

Architectural history in the 21st century is expanding beyond its traditional focus on speci¿c styles, materials, or building typologies and on famous architects, iconic movements, or paradigmatic cities. Following other historical ¿elds that have embraced more complex approaches and adopted new analytical frameworks, architectural historians are exploring themes such as human relations, transnational networks, and cross-cultural exchanges. While changing their discipli-nary scope, they are also ¿nding novel ways to engage con-temporary discussions – such as the ones held in Paris in December 2015 as part of COP21 on climate change, rising sea-levels, and sustainable energy futures beyond oil. In or-der to unor-derstand this complex present and to meaningfully imagine new futures, they can critically explore histories of iconography, symbolism, and imaginaries of select architec-ture and vernacular built form, analyzing their social, cultu-ral, economic and aesthetic values.

$VVFKRODUV'RPLQLF%R\HUDQG,PUH6]HPDQDUJXHGLQDQDUWLFOH ³7KH5LVHRI(QHUJ\+XPDQLWLHV´³WRGD\¶VHQHUJ\DQGHQYLURQPHQWDO GLOHPPDVDUHIXQGDPHQWDOO\SUREOHPVRIHWKLFVKDELWVYDOXHVLQVWLWX-tions, belief, and power.” Among these emerging approaches to archi- WHFWXUDOKLVWRU\±ERWKLQWHUPVRIUHWKLQNLQJWKHVFRSHRIWKHGLVFL-SOLQHLWVHOIDQGHQJDJLQJZLWKRWKHU¿HOGV±LVWKHVWXG\RIFRPPRGLW\ ÀRZVDQGWKHLULQÀXHQFHRQWKHEXLOWHQYLURQPHQWVXFKDVWKHUHVHDUFK

(2)

BULLETIN 2015 /3

VERENIGING V

AN NEDERLANDSE KUNSTHIST

O

(3)

not more than that. The heart of the oil business is thus absent from most people’s mindscapes.

The retail network of

gas stations that has

spread through cities

and rural areas since the

beginning of the 20th

century, is so mundane

as to generally escape

comment.

Parallel to the industrial petro-leumscape is a distribution one, more short-lived and much closer to the consumer: a retail network of gas stations. This has spread through cities and rural areas since the beginning of the 20th FHQWXU\DQGLVVRPXQGDQHDVWR JHQHUDOO\HVFDSHFRPPHQW7KHVH structures have evolved along with cars, road infrastructures DQGXVHUQHHGV7KH\FDQWDNH RQDUHJLRQDOÀDYRUDGDSWLQJWR local urban forms or changing consumer preferences, while (at DVHDUO\DV±WDNHXSDORW

of space in the Rotterdam port (some 5300 ha for industrial sites and 1500 km of pipelines within WKHSRUWDQGDUHFOHDUO\YLVLEOH from the air: port facilities, stora-JHWDQNVUH¿QHULHVSLSHOLQHVDQG other infrastructure spanning IURPWKHLQQHUFLW\WRWKHWLSRI WKHSRUWWKH0DDVYODNWH,,7KH\ KDYHD̆HFWHGSODQQLQJ7KH H[LVWLQJ6KHOOUH¿QHU\LQ0RHU-dijk was established in the 1960s LQFRQÀLFWZLWKQDWLRQDOVSDWLDO SODQQLQJSROLF\,QUHVSRQVHWKH parliament decided that such µÀH[LELOLW\¶VKRXOGEHFXUWDLOHG E\VWDWXWRU\SODQQLQJGHFLVLRQV This landscape of production and transportation includes elements VXFKDVUH¿QHULHVZLWKDORQJ span of life. This petroleumscape LVODUJHO\LQDFFHVVLEOHZKHWKHU FRQFHSWXDOO\UDUHO\FRQVLGHUHG E\DUWRUDUFKLWHFWXUDOKLVWRULDQV or invisible to the regular citizen. ,QGHHGPRVWFLWL]HQVRQO\H[SHUL-ence industrial petroleumscapes RQWKHHGJHRIWKHLUHYHU\GD\ H[SHULHQFH7KH\PLJKWJOLPSVH DUH¿QHU\RUVWRUDJHWDQNVDWWKH VLGHRIDKLJKZD\WKH\PLJKWVHH a passing train or ship, or view the harbor from the air but it is tions around the globe. I have

VWDUWHGWRH[DPLQHWKUHHSK\VLFDO petroleumscapes – industrial, retail and administration – and WKHGLVWLQFWPDUNWKDWWKH\KDYH OHIWRQWKH5DQGVWDGQRWDEO\LQ the Rotterdam/The Hague area. The research is ongoing, but it DOUHDG\VKRZVKRZWKHVHGLI-IHUHQWSK\VLFDOSUHVHQFHVRIRLO have developed, intersected and reinforced each other. Ongoing research also explores the petro-leumscapes that the oil compa-nies themselves have imagined and that have shaped people’s ex-periences of this geographic area. Investigation of independent DUWLVWLFUHVSRQVHV¿OPVOLWHUDWX-re, music) and of public respon-ses (in the popular language of ZRUGVMRNHVP\WKVVWRULHVDQG legends and in other actions), will EHSDUWRIIXWXUHVWXG\

7KH¿UVWSHWUROHXPVFDSHLVWKH industrial footprint of oil, its storage, transformation, and WUDQVSRUWDWLRQ,WLVKLJKO\IXQF-tional, huge in both size and LQYHVWPHQWJOREDOO\DOPRVW identical and at the core of the oil business. These facilities – the ¿UVWRQHVEXLOWIRUOLJKWLQJRLO VSDFHVIDUEH\RQGWKHRQHVWKDW

FRPSDQLHVDFWXDOO\RFFXS\7KHVH mindscapes form additional SHWUROHXPVFDSHVWKDWLQÀXHQFH architects, artists, writers and the JHQHUDOSXEOLFDVWKH\SURGXFH buildings and other artistic works that reference the built environ-ment. Furthermore, mindscapes shape how people generate new SK\VLFDOSHWUROHXPVFDSHVFKDQ-JLQJWKHPLVSHUKDSVWKH¿UVW VWHSLQFUHDWLQJIRVVLOIUHHHQHUJ\ landscapes. ,QVSLUHGE\+HQUL/HIHEYUH¶V WKHRU\RIHYHU\GD\OLIHZKLFK argues that space is fundamental to the lived experience of inhabi-tants, users, and artists, media-WHGE\WKHLPDJHVPHDQLQJVDQG V\PEROVWKLVUHVHDUFKLQWHJUDWHV several related disciplines, of which architecture, urbanism DQGSODQQLQJDUHNH\LQJUHGLHQWV ,WDQDO\]HVSK\VLFDOH[SUHVVLRQV representations, and lived expe-riences of oil together. Therewith it aims to capture cultures of oil PRGHUQLW\WKDWLVPRGHUQLW\DV shaped and experienced through the ubiquous presence of oil in particular local forms, and to

(4)

FRPSDUHWKHPLQGL̆HUHQWORFD-BULLETIN 2015 /3

VERENIGING V

AN NEDERLANDSE KUNSTHIST

O

RICI

to the building’s nickname: The Red Elephant. Right next door, WKHFRPSDQ\HUHFWHGDJDVVWDWLRQ – connecting the two often unre-ODWHGW\SRORJLHV±DIHDWXUHWKDW RWKHUKHDGTXDUWHUVQRWDEO\6KHOO KHDGTXDUWHUVFORVHE\DOVRVKDUH 7KHVH¿UVWWKUHHSHWUROHXPVFDSHV evolved in relation to each other – the increasing spread of the au-tomobile after the Second World :DUFDQEHGLUHFWO\OLQNHGWRWKH planning and construction of KLJKZD\VDQGUHODWHGJDVVWDWLRQV ±DQGFRPSULVHWKHSK\VLFDOLP-pact of oil companies on the built environment. The fourth petro-leumscape is the mindscape that the oil companies themselves construct for the general public. The mindscape of oil generated for the general public is much ODUJHUWKDQWKHH̆HFWVRIWKH petroleumscapes that the com-SDQLHVSK\VLFDOO\EXLOG0DSV brochures, and booklets pro-GXFHGE\RLOFRPSDQLHVUDUHO\ GHSLFWUH¿QHULHVRUKHDGTXDUWHUV LQVWHDGWKH\WLHFRPSDQ\FRORUV and logos to traditional lands-capes, to tourist destinations, or WRKLVWRULFDOVFLHQWL¿FRUFXOWXUDO drove the settlement patterns of

WKHRLOFRPSDQ\KHDGTXDUWHUV LQWKHHDUO\WKFHQWXU\HYHQ before the widespread use of the car. And in contrast to the hid-GHQVLWHVRILQGXVWU\VHYHUDORI the administrative and research buildings are urban icons and well-known to locals. The archi-tects M.A. and J. van Nieukerken, conservative architects (and, like their father, well-known for work for the Dutch elite, both WKHDULVWRFUDF\DQGOHDGLQJPHU-chants), designed the headquar-ters of Shell in The Hague (1915-17). Erected on the land of the ZHDOWK\$UHQGVGRUSIDPLO\WKH structure was big and visible with careful architectural detailing. Shell’s competitor, the American 3HWUROHXP&RPSDQ\ODWHU(VVR erected its headquarters close to Shell’s, with a façade on the Malieveld in front of the Central 6WDWLRQ'HVLJQHGLQE\WKH Rotterdam architects Herman de Roos and Willem Overeijnder and named Petrolea, the building ZDV¿QLVKHGLQ,WIHDWXUHV UHGEULFNVW\SLFDORIWKH$P-sterdam School, and a striking sculpture of an elephant designed E\-RRSYDQ/XQWHUHQZKLFKOHG EXWWKH\KDYH\HWWRUHODWHWKHP

to changes in the built environ-ment changes in the Randstad. &RPSDUHGWRWKHVWDEOHDQG¿[HG industrial oil landscape, the gas VWDWLRQVIRUPDPRUHÀH[LEOH DQGÀHHWLQJODQGVFDSHEXWDV places of regular contact with citizen consumers, and ubiqui-WRXVDFURVVWKHFRXQWU\VLGHWKH\ make a strong impact on people’s mental mindscapes.

The Randstad is also home to headquarters and research cen-WHUVHVWDEOLVKLQJ\HWDQRWKHU IDFHRIWKHRLOLQGXVWU\DSHWUR-leumscape of administration. &RPSDQLHVWUDQVODWHWKHSK\VLFDO presence of oil administration into more distinctive urban and architectural spaces. While gas stations are present throughout WKHFRXQWU\EXWKDYHDXWLOLWDULDQ character, the large adminis-trative and research facilities of 5R\DO'XWFK6KHOO(VVRDQGWKH B.I.M. are in prestigious locations in The Hague, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam. If port and trans-SRUWDWLRQLQIUDVWUXFWXUHZDVNH\ WRWKHSK\VLFDOQHWZRUNVRIRLO SUR[LPLW\WRWKHQDWLRQDOJRYHUQ-ment and its relevant ministries least since the 1970s) boasting

XQL¿HGQDPHVDQGFRORUVRIQD-tional and global oil companies. Their forms are not identical, EXWWKH\DUHHDVLO\LGHQWL¿DEOH through their color and gene-UDOEDVLFW\SRORJ\DFDQRS\RQ stilts). These repeating details inscribe the oil companies’ names LQWRHYHU\RQH¶VPLQGDQGPLQGV-cape. The Dutch retail landscape has unique features: The rapid propagation of these structures in the Netherlands in the begin-QLQJRIWKHWKFHQWXU\VLWHG LQLWLDOO\HYHU\NLORPHWHUV faced opposition from the citizen organization Bond Heemschut in 1939. Its commission on ‘De Weg en de Landschap’ (The road and WKH/DQGVFDSHVSHFL¿FDOO\DVNHG provincial leaders to intervene with the oil companies to im-prove the aesthetics of gas stati-RQV7KH\XOWLPDWHO\VXFFHHGHG and the companies established a GLVWLQFWLYHO\'XWFKDSSHDUDQFH through the works of leading DUFKLWHFWVLQFOXGLQJ6\EROGYDQ 5DYHVWH\Q:LOOHP0'XGRNRU Arthur Staal. Architectural his-torians have studied individual gas stations as part of an archi-WHFW¶VRHXYUHRUDVDW\SRORJ\

(5)

ban icon at the heart of Amster-dam? The oil pomp Jaknikker in 6FKRRQHEHHNLVDOUHDG\LQFOXGHG in the register of national mo-numents, but will we “preserve” WKHQHWZRUNHGKHDYLO\SROOXWHG industrial heritage of oil – the storage tanks, pipelines, and drilling platforms, and also the KLJKZD\V"7KHVHTXHVWLRQVFDOO for further research. And we can turn to new technologies to help scholars and the general public WUDFNWKHKLVWRU\ORFDWLRQVSUHDG DQGKLVWRU\RISHWUROHXPVFDSHV and their role in the popular ima-JLQDU\DQDXJPHQWHGUHDOLW\WRRO DQGDZHEVLWHDUHDOUHDG\XQGHU development at TU Delft. Within DUFKLWHFWXUDOKLVWRU\WKLVLVDQ unorthodox and challenging but YHU\UHOHYDQWDSSURDFK:HKDYH DXQLTXHRSSRUWXQLW\WRFRPSUH-hend the interconnected spatial DQGFXOWXUDODVSHFWVRIPRGHUQLW\ and contribute to the imagining and promotion of alternative HQHUJ\IXWXUHV

Prof.dr.ing. Carola Hein bekleedt sinds 1 september 2014 de leerstoel History of Architecture& Urban Planning aan de TU Delft.

Haar oratie is op 27 januari 2016.

WKRVHFUHDWHGE\LQGHSHQGHQW SOD\HUVLQFOXGLQJDUWLVWV7KH Centre Pompidou in Paris can EHVHHQDVKRPDJHWRUH¿QHU\ aesthetics. Artists such as Araun Gordijn, Edward Hopper, and Ed Ruscha have captured the growing importance of gas sta-WLRQVLQSHRSOH¶VGDLO\OLIHWKHLU work can be tied into the broader context of oil modernities. Film VFKRODUVPD\ZDQWWRSD\DWWHQ-tion to changing representaVFKRODUVPD\ZDQWWRSD\DWWHQ-tion RIRLODQGRISK\VLFDOSHWUROH-umscapes. Popular language PD\\HWSURYLGHIXUWKHULQVLJKW LQWRWKHVSUHDGRIRLOLQWRHYHU\-GD\PLQGVFDSHVDQGQDUUDWLYHV 6WXG\LQJSHWUROHXPVFDSHVDQG imagining getting rid of them in IDYRURIQHZHQHUJ\VRXUFHVDOVR raises questions on preservation and heritage: Once petroleum is in our past, how will we contex-tualize oil-related structures such as headquarters or gas stations that are part of our heritage, even DOUHDG\DGGHGWRWKHQDWLRQDO heritage list? How shall we ana-O\WLFDOO\IUDPHWUDQVIRUPDWLRQV such as the renovation of the “A’Dam Tower,” the former “To-UHQ2YHUKRHNV´¿UVWGHVLJQHGE\ Arthur Staal for Shell, into an ur-examination of the companies’

publications remains to be done, EXWWKH6KHOO-RXUQDDO±D\HDUO\ booklet distributed to its regular clients (not at the gas station), published between 1961 and 1993, and still available on se-cond hand book sites – is sugges-tive. A common message of these booklets is the historical qualities of the Dutch cities and lands-capes as tourist attractions. Other publications include engineering topics – bridges and buildings – and themes of trade and change. One publication, Snelweg naar Europa+LJKZD\WR(XURSH imagined the Netherlands as a lo-gistics center and praised the ad-vantages of petroleum in fueling commerce. Another series, Shell helpt u op weg6KHOOKHOSV\RX on the road), was also geared to a general public. Advertisements on TV continued the theme of 6KHOODVDKHOSHURIWHQGLVSOD\LQJ the pleasure of driving.

Understanding the growth of the Randstad through the lens RIRLOUHODWHGVWUXFWXUHVP\ ZRUNPRGHOVDQHZZD\IRUDUW KLVWRULDQVWRVWXG\DQGDVVHVV D¿IWKVHWRISHWUROHXPVFDSHV explorations. Since the 1930s,

oil companies have used maps to fuel the general public’s desire to explore the Dutch landscape 6KHOO7H[DFR7KH\ VROGRUIUHHO\GLVWULEXWHGIRU SXEOLFLW\UHDVRQVURDGPDSVWKDW DVVRFLDWHGWKHFRPSDQ\QDPH with the experience of driving and visiting; until 2010, Shell SXEOLVKHGDVHULHVRIFLW\DWODVHV the Stratenboek. Esso’s map of 1957 and other examples, show oil companies establishing a relationship between modern WHFKQRORJ\VWUHHWVDQGWUDGLWLR-nal Dutch features: a traditioWHFKQRORJ\VWUHHWVDQGWUDGLWLR-nal Dutch windmill and building ap-pear next to an oversized car and WLQ\KLJKZD\RQWKH6KHOOPDS 7\LQJWKHRLOFRPSDQLHVFRPSDQ\ to traditional landscapes rather than the industrial ones that SHWUROHXPJHQHUDWHVWKH\DOVR promote the car as a means of IUHHGRPDQGGLVFRYHU\

2LOFRPSDQLHVDOVRFDUHIXOO\ establish their images with their RZQHPSOR\HHVDQGUHJXODUFXV-tomers, once again with a focus RQ'XWFKFXOWXUHKLVWRU\DQG WHFKQRORJ\DQGSURPRWLRQRI GULYLQJDVDQHZOLIHVW\OH$IXOO