Dutch architect, who did a lot for the development of public housing, by designing various complexes of workers’ housing in Amsterdam that were solid and affordable and served as an example for other architects.
Van der Pek studied architecture at the Polytechnic School in Delft (1885-89). Back in Amsterdam, he became involved in initiatives from the bourgeoisie to improve the inhumane living conditions of the industrial proletariat. At the end of 1895 he participated in the foundation of the NV Bouwonderneming ‘Jordaan’, an attempt to realise new buildings for workers on economic terms. He eventually designed and built over two blocks with a hundred houses on the Lindengracht and Goudsbloemstraat.
It turned out to be impossible to raise capital on a large scale for public housing. But the Housing Act of Minister Goeman Borgesius made it possible to set up housing corporations with financial support from the government. The first Housing Act apartments in Amsterdam were built by Van der Pek at the Van Beuningenstraat in 1909. In the Indian neighbourhood he also built house blocks for Rochdale and other companies during that first period. For the Housing Authority of Amsterdam, he designed the other homes in the reclaimed land Buiksloterham (Amsterdam-Noord), the current Van der Pek neighbourhood. Van der Pek worked according to modern hygienic ideas. Parents and children had separate sleeping quarters, which could easily be aired daily. Running water and WC had to be present in every house, and not in the staircase. Salvages had to be used as such and not as living space. If the client agreed, he added some central facilities to the houses, such as a garden and a library. Sometimes he went to inform the residents afterwards about their findings. Moreover, he was constantly informed and advised by his wife Louise Went, who as a house supervisor weekly picked up the rent from the people, but as a social worker also kept a close watch on them.
Jan van der Pek was not a socialist, but a progressive liberal who was motivated by the ideal of elevation of the working class. He was a board member of the Volksbond against alcohol abuse and a member of the Civil Society Board, the forerunner of the Social Services.
Louise Went and Van der Pek married in 1901. They had no children.
He died 23 March 1919 in Amsterdam of heart disease.
Link to Dutch Wikipedia