SikkensFoundation
Sikkens Prize
1960 ALDO VAN EYCK AND CONSTANT NIEUWENHUYS — For the manifesto “For a spatial colorism”, and its de- monstration at the exhibition, “A space in color” (Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1952). — The 1960 Sikkens Prize was awarded to Aldo van Eyck and Constant Nieuwenhuys for their active and creative contributions to the synthesis of space and color in gene- ral. The synthesis of architecture and the visual arts (i.e., space and color) was linked to the integration of art and society, an ideal which was not unfamiliar to those who knew about the ideas of De Stijl and other avant-garde movements between the wars. The high expectations of art and the elevated image of the artist were characteris- tic of this, a social utopian ideal which had revived strongly after the end of the war. Van Eyck and Nieuwenhuys were awarded the 1960 pri- ze in particular for their manifesto “For a spatial colo- rism”, published in 1952/53 as an appendix to the publi- cation Mens en Huis (Man and House), which accompanied the eponymous exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum. In this manifesto the artist and the architect state that color appears in a passive, random way in mo- dern architecture. The emotional impact and the capacity of color to create space are not used, while color is just as much a factor that determines space as the construc- tive space. Color should not be added to the construction or form, but should be conceived at the same time and in relation to it. “Color is nothing other than the color of the form and the form is nothing other than the form of the color”. The prize was awarded for the demonstration of this view – a space arranged by them in the exhibition “Mens en Huis”.Back to index
Aldo van Eyck was trained in the modernist ideals of functionalism, also known as New Building or New Busi- ness. His buildings provide people both with freedom and protection, and the radical use of color promotes the indi- vidual character and identity of the space. This introducti- on of the element of “humanity” in Van Eyck’s early archi- tecture can be viewed as a correction of the architectural coldness of modernism. The first signs of the social and cultural revolution of the late 1960s can already be seen in this. In Constant Nieuwenhuys it is also possible to see the links with the later Provo and Hippy generation. After his Cobra years, he became interested in the infu- ence of the built-up environment on human activity. His abstract constructions from those years can be viewed as architectural or urban planning visions, as studies for the spatial application of color. “For a spatial colorism” – like his later project for an alternative society, New Baby- lon – is along those lines. Download text as pdf
