Dear members of the Histechnica Association and of the KIVI Department of the History of Engineering,

Your boards have the pleasure of inviting you to attend a lecture to be delivered by dr.ir. M.P. Remery, with title:

Catholic architecture in the twentieth century: the four architects of the Leiden Van der Laan family

There is no charge to attend the lecture. You are kindly requested to register in advance, by Saturday 2 February at the latest. Registration is preferably via the KIVI website or by e-mail to pthlmvanwoerkom@gmail.com stating "Registration lecture 9 February with [number of] guests" or by phone to the programme commissioner (070 - 307 0275).

Summary of the lecture

In his book "Katholieke architectuur in de twintigste eeuw" (Verloren, 2018), author Michel Remery shows how four architects from the family of Leo van der Laan made a significant contribution to Dutch architecture within the 'Catholic pillar' of the twentieth century. He takes the reader back to the heyday of the pillar and shows how the four architects applied very different styles and forms among themselves. Among them are the Leiden architects Leo and Jan van der Laan, and the well-known Benedictine monk and architect Dom Hans van der Laan with his brother Nico. His book forms the basis for his talk for Histechnica and KIVI-GdT.

The Van der Laan family had four architects - Father Leo and his sons Jan, Hans and Nico - who developed totally different architectural styles two by two in great harmony and admiration for each other. They were known as Catholic traditionalist architects, who built mainly within their own Catholic column. Leo and Jan left an enormously varied built oeuvre of hundreds of buildings in Leiden alone. Above all, Hans and Nico worked on a universal theory of architecture. In this, each of these four architects was motivated and driven by his Catholic attitude to life.

All four architects Van der Laan knew how to connect their earthly activities with worship to God in everyday life and liturgy (...). Their lives were dedicated to the search for the key to beauty in architecture (...). Dom Hans van der Laan would say that they wanted their designs to exude a special beauty, leading the viewer through the sensory handling of things to the inner handling of God in his or her soul. In this way, the Van der Laan architects constructed, as it were, a tangible answer to the question of how liturgy and architecture relate to each other, and found in this the key to the beauty of their designs, which are defining for a good part of twentieth-century Catholic architecture.

Information about the speaker, dr.ir. M.P. Remery

Dr.ir. Michel P. Remery studied architecture at the Technical University in Delft and theology at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana in Rome. He publishes on the relationship between liturgy and architecture. His book on the four architects Van der Laan places them in the context of their time and the 'Catholic pillar'.

A previously published guide describing walks through Leiden ("Discovering Leiden on foot with four architects Van der Laan") gives everyone the chance to consider the work of these architects for themselves and on the spot.

Documents