Abstract
Throughout the post-WWII decades Dutch architect Jaap Bakema (1914-1981) was inspired to build for a democratic and egalitarian society which recognized and accommodated diversity in lifestyles as a starting point for urban planning. This is evidenced by his many interventions within the CIAM, to begin with his statement on behalf of young Dutch architects at the 1947 reunion congress in Bridgwater, England.
At the Otterlo congress, Bakema introduced in 1959 the subject of an open society to the circles of CIAM and Team 10. He continued the conversation on the subject throughout his lifetime, especially in international exchanges with colleagues in the USA and Japan.
For Bakema, the open society implied a social project of change, contestation and communication. It was to be built on comprehensive welfare state arrangements between government bodies, citizens and the industry. At the same time, he envisaged a modernized Netherlands as the open society par excellence.
However, in the early 1970s, when the welfare state redistribution system seemed to be fully established, a new wave of radical democratization and economic change drastically affected Dutch society, and Bakema's project for a new integration of architecture and regional planning lost its momentum.
