Invisible Influence

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE URBAN PLANNER JAKOBA MULDER

It’s high time the work of the architect and urban planner Jakoba Mulder (1900–1988) received the attention it deserves. Mulder was one of the first women to graduate from the Institute of Technology in Delft with a civil engineering degree, in 1926, and she subsequently specialised in urban development. After a brief career as an architectural draughtsperson, Mulder went to work for the city of Delft as an adjunct engineer on the Zuid-Holland West regional development plan in 1928. In 1930, Mulder – who possessed what was then unique experience in urban planning – became the first female architect to take up a similar post in the city of Amsterdam’s urban development department.

She joined a core team made up of the department head and urban planner L.S.P. Scheffer (1887–1974), the designer Cornelis van Eesteren (1897–1988) and the academic researcher Th.K. van Lohuizen (1890–1956), who were working on a basic design for Amsterdam’s General Expansion Plan (Algemeen Uitbreidingsplan, or AUP). After the Second World War, it was Mulder who developed and elaborated the subplans. In 1952, she became the department’s chief architect, and in 1958, its first female head.

Though broad information on her most important projects exists, there has been no comprehensive study of her contributions to urban development in Amsterdam and to Dutch urban planning in general. In studies of the AUP and its specific subprojects, her work is mentioned only in passing.

Linda Vlassenrood is conducting research for a book on Mulder’s contributions and importance. The research is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL, the Jaap Harten Foundation and the city of Amsterdam’s Planning and Sustainability department and Monuments and Archeology department.