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From 1914 to 1940, Frans de Jong was the local architect of the small villages Lexmond and Hei- en Boeicop. In this period he produced approximately 72 houses, 13 farms, 26 barns, 2 churches, 1 cigar factory, 1 wooden bandstand, 1 water pump station and 1 office building. A lot of the buildings he designed are still standing. Our challenge was to bring the oeuvre of this relatively 'unknown' and - in his home village - quite 'forgotten' architect unto the attention for one concentrated moment.

 

'Because of this 'catalogue' of dwellings of Zederik-area, our view on the building environment of the regio has inevitably changed', Pim Metman chairman of the Council of Culture Zederik.

From 1914 to 1940, Frans de Jong was the local architect of the small villages Lexmond and Hei- en Boeicop. In this period he produced approximately 72 houses, 13 farms, 26 barns, 2 churches, 1 cigar factory, 1 wooden bandstand, 1 water pump station and 1 office building. Furthermore he produced numerous home extensions, renovations and restaurations. Among which is the restauration of the monumental city hall of Ameide. A lot of the buildings he designed are still standing. Some of them carefully preserved by the owners and still look original. Others have been rebuilt in an almost unrecognizable way.

Frans de Jong designed using a visual language which was available everywhere around in this area. Therefor his buildings seem to fit perfectly in this area with its many historical farms. However, when we lay out his whole oeuvre side by side, we discover similarities, which are characteristic for the way he worked.

Finding these similarities in the work of Frans de Jong was the reason we started this research.

Our challenge was to bring the oeuvre of this relatively 'unknown' and - in his home village - quite 'forgotten' architect unto the attention for one concentrated moment.

In corporation with Frederik de Wal we bundled our resaerch in a folding-paper. Not just a booklet, but a device. By folding it in different ways, it can become a catalogue, cycle-routing, biography and more.

For just one day, on September 13th 2008 Heritage Day, more than hundred houses and buildings of Frans de Jong were open for public. On this day the folding-paper was distributed for free.