In November 2025, the twelfth annual Jaap Bakema Study Centre conference took place. Networks of (Ex)Change, Global Disseminations of Architectural Knowledge examined the role of international networks in the exchange of knowledge and ideas in architecture and urban planning.
I contributed an original article titled “Architecture of Development: The Bouwcentrum as International Broker of Dutch Building Knowledge”. Proceedings to be downloaded from here. Abstract:
The Bouwcentrum, a Rotterdam-based center for building expertise founded in 1946, initially focused on post-war reconstruction and international cooperation within Europe. This paper examines how the center’s mission expanded from the 1960s onwards to actively broker the export of Dutch housing and construction knowledge to rapidly developing nations in Africa, West Asia, and South and South-East Asia. Through its dual methods of educational curricula (Bouwcentrum International Education or BIE) and trade missions, the Bouwcentrum positioned itself as a knowledge partner while simultaneously serving as a driver of permanent economic influence. Drawing on archival sources and a study by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), the paper argues that the Bouwcentrum acted as a broker of foreign access for specific Dutch architects, planners, and construction companies at strategic geopolitical moments. Ultimately, it questions how the organization, by embodying a non-profit while downplaying its involvements, represented the Netherlands’ effort to sustain its influence as a former colonial power in a newly emancipated global majority.