Willem Marinus Dudok
b. Amsterdam, 1884;
d. Hilversum, 1974.

Willem Marinus Dudok, an influential Dutch architect and town planner who, despite completing over 240 projects, is primarily remembered internationally for a handful of beautifully crafted brick buildings from the 1920-30s in the town of Hilversum. After graduating as an engineer from the Royal Military Academy at Breda, Dudok spent the first ten years of his architectural career constructing defensive forts and military barracks for the Dutch army. In 1927 he was appointed City Architect for Hilversum to co-ordinate the expansion of the town and to design the principal public buildings. He also practised privately. Dudok cultivated a highly eclectic approach to architecture. He admired Frank Lloyd Wright and the American Prairie School. He produced a strongly idiosyncratic, and therefore easily recognizable, brick architecture style which hinged upon the dramatic asymmetrical massing of geometrical forms. Hilversum Town Hall is considered the apotheosis of this particular period. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1935. After the Second World War, Dudok produced a number of fine housing schemes in Hilversum and other Dutch towns as well as urban design proposals. He received the AIA Gold Medal in 1955.

List of major buildings / works
Public Baths, Hilversum, 1921.
Abattoir, Hilversum, 1923.
Dutch Hostel, Paris University, 1926-38.
Town Hall, Hilversum, 1928-30.
“Bilenkauf ” Store, Rotterdam, 1928-30.
Vondel School, Hilversum, 1929.

Bibliography
G. Friedhoff, W. M. Dudok, Amsterdam, 1930.
Max Cramer and Hans van Grieken, W. M. Dudok 1884.1974, Amsterdam, 1981.
Yukio Futagawa (ed.), Global Architecture 58, Tokyo, 1981.