Tilburg (NB): O.L.V. Moeder van Goede Raad (J. van
der Valk, 1911-1913)
In
general, Expressionist architecture in The Netherlands is mostly
associated with the Amsterdam School, a direction which emerged shortly
after the year 1910 but did not get a religious use until the 1920's,
and for protestant churches mostly. However, there is this catholic
church in Tilburg which is definitely Expressionist in style,
especially in its details, built well over a decade before the
Amsterdam School found its way to church architecture. As such, it may
well be the first church in Expressionist style in the whole country.
The architect, Jan van der Valk, is neither very famous nor
influential. Most of his work is found in his home town Tilburg, where
he mostly built houses. Before this church, his only work with a
religious nature was a convent in Oisterwijk. Van der Valk only
designed a few more churches. Although he remained an
architect of profane buildings mostly, and never fit in any of the
contemporary catholic architectural schools, this church Onze Lieve
Vrouw Moeder van Goede Raad (Our Lady of Good Counsel) is probably his
most important work. He is known to have been subscribed to several
foreign architectural magazines and was possibly inspired by German
Expressionist architecture when he designed this church.
The church has a centralizing layout, with a short nave, wide
transept-arms, a short choir and a large octagonal crossing tower with
a dome on top. The crossing tower is decorated with battlements and
balustrades. The construction of the church is mostly of reinforced
concrete, while the exterior is of brick. The 45-meters tall tower in
the corner between the nave and the southern transept-arm is mostly
square in diameter, but its upper part is polygonal and the most
expressionist part of the church.
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