Justus van Effen-complex

In 1922, a remarkable residential complex, the Justus van Effen block, is completed in the Rotterdam Spangen district. Its designer is architect Michiel Brinkman (1873-1925), a representative of both the artisan tradition of the nineteenth century and the modern era, who considers architecture a social challenge and is an adherent of rationalization and functionalism. The Justus van Effen complex epitomizes
different architectural features. Striking are the subtle brick architecture, the logistic organization of the complex that originally comprised 264 dwellings, the layout of the dwellings, the design of the ground floor, the composition of the façades and the use of colour. The complex above all acquired worldwide fame, however, by its third-floor gallery or raised street.