Kokon history with daugher of Van Tijen

06-12-2022

What is a person without memories, and what is an architectural firm without knowing its own history? Last Friday, Willemien Deeleman-van Tijen, daughter of Kokon founder Willem van Tijen, visited Rotterdam to talk at length about her remarkable father.

Willem van Tijen was a visionary architect who built the first residential apartment building back in the 1930s and went to live there himself with his family. Together with Willemien, the Kokon Heritage Team visited this Plaslaanflat, now a national monument. A few facts:

• The furnishings in the Van Tijen flat were almost the same as now in current occupant Jasper's (treasurer Van Tijen Foundation) home, including Van Gispen side table.
• The building had two small guest houses that you could rent for a Dutch guilder a night.
• The two roofs on top of the roof terrace were purely as a social addition for some shade on the roof. Willemien often went up to the roof, as did many other residents.
• During the war, a Jewish boy in hiding lived in the cupboard in Mien's room. Fellow architect Hugh Maaskant also went into hiding in the cupboard at the end of the war to escape German labour camp.

Through her stories, we could experience how Van Tijen envisioned modern living: lots of light, wide dwellings, and plenty of room for social interaction. After almost 100 years, Kokon still upholds Willem van Tijen's values: socially sustainable housing is at the heart of our work as architects.

Learn more through the Willem van Tijen Foundation.