The Notebooks of Herman Hertzberger

An incomparable source of information for every architecture aficionado

Herman Hertzberger’s sketches, reflections and ideas, brought together in a unique (gift) slipcase

Hertzberger’s views on the changes in society, post 65 architecture and the adaptive reuse of this heritage

Herman Hertzberger never went anywhere without one of his black, unlined notebooks close to hand. Every tiny detail that caught his attention was immortalized in a note, reflection or a sketch. Hertzberger was forever recording his surroundings in this way. He plays with words, searches for the right forms while drawing, reflecting in words and pictures on anything that strikes him, including tragic events like 9/11 and the Covid pandemic. Besides the many landscape drawings, readers will also recognize the initial impetus and ideas for some of his projects, including the YKK dormitory in Kurobe, Japan, and Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht.

The Notebooks of Herman Hertzberger covers the period from 1998 to 2024. How does Hertzberger view his ever-changing surroundings and to what extent do his observations form the basis of his own practice? Nowhere is this more evident than in these unique reproductions of his notebooks. In five volumes (also available in a deluxe slipcase), architectural historian Herman van Bergeijk guides the reader through the celebrated architect’s ideas.