In the 1960s the American firm Johnson Wax, producer of household cleaning supplies, decided to base its first European branch in the town of Mijdrecht in the Netherlands. Dutch architect Huig Maaskant was asked to provide an ‘unusual design’. Maaskant greatly appreciated American culture and life-style, and had designed monumental and modern buildings in post-war Holland. The offices and meeting rooms are accommodated in a freestanding boomerang-shaped structure suspended above a square pond. This structure is supported by five tapering pilotis executed in poured concrete, and is connected to the factory by an elevated walking bridge. The office units are clearly visible from the outside as they have been arranged between two thin concrete slabs constituting the floor and ceiling of the boomerang, the ends of which are rounded and filled in with concrete slabs. The sculptural quality of the office building is further emphasized by the pond over which it is suspended. The adjacent factory is a boxed edifice containing the production area, staff facilities, storage spaces and an interior garden. Written by David Geneste
Architects
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Huig Maaskant |
Nearby
Name | Since | Distance | |||
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Ouderkerk aan de Amstel- Historical Dutch Village Walking Tour en nl | 10km | site_izi | |||
Highlights in Amstelveen, The Netherlands en nl | 9.9km | site_izi | |||
Parkwalk C.P.Broersepark en nl | 10.3km | site_izi | |||
Scottish highlanders walk Amsterdam forest (±1h) en nl | 10km | site_izi | |||
Photography walk around the Amstelveen Lake (De Poel) (approx. 5k en nl | 9.2km | site_izi | |||
Cycling tour Amstelveen – Ouderkerk a/d Amstel (±1.5h) en nl | 8.1km | site_izi | |||
Flowers of Holland en nl | 7.9km | site_izi | |||
Royal FloraHolland | 2015 | 7.9km | site_ao | ||
Beth Haim Cemetery | 2019 | 9.2km | site_ao |
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