The Amsterdam School (c. 1910-1930) is famous for its expressive brick architecture and richly decorated interiors. But what sources of inspiration informed these wonderous designs? This book shows how the colonial relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia, the former Dutch East Indies, profoundly shaped the style of the Amsterdam School.

Seeking inspiration for the enlivening world of beauty they hoped to create, the architects and designers of the Amsterdam School latched onto all ...

Four years of protracted negotiations and bitter warfare passed between the declaration of Indonesian independence on 17 August, 1945, and the official transfer of sovereignty on 27 December, 1949. Whereas the newly proclaimed Republic of Indonesia rejected the colonial regime and hence any attempt at ‘recolonization’ by the Dutch after the Japanese occupation (1942-1945), the Dutch framed their return to the archipelago as a mission to restore ‘order and peace’. These wildly contrast...