A transnational view on the origins of the Delft School

This article critically reassesses the historiography of architectural education at Delft University of Technology by adopting a transnational perspective on the origins of what later became known as the “Delft School.” Departing from the commonly repeated narrative that modernism only gained a foothold in Delft after the Second World War, the author argues that modernist ideas were already deeply embedded in the intellectual, social, and educational culture of the institution from its earliest phases. Through a close reading of Bouwkunde in Delft: a chronology 1842–2000, the article exposes the limitations of a predominantly image-based chronology that obscures crucial theoretical, social, and international exchanges. Central to the argument is the role of architecture schools as nodes within transnational networks of knowledge exchange. Figures such as Eugen Gugel, Cornelis van Eesteren, H.P. Berlage, Jacques van Marken, and B.H. Pekelharing are examined as mediators between technological rationality, social reform, and architectural theory. The article demonstrates how influences from Germany, France, Switzerland, and international modernist organisations such as CIAM shaped Delft’s educational culture well before 1945. Particular attention is paid to student activism, petitions, lectures, and publications that foregrounded social housing, urban planning, and architectural theory as integral components of modern architectural education. By reconnecting architectural pedagogy to broader debates on technology, social reform, and aesthetics, the article challenges the binary opposition between traditionalism and modernism that dominates postwar interpretations of the Delft School. It concludes that modernism at Delft should be understood not as a postwar rupture, but as a long-term, transnationally informed process rooted in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century educational and social practices.