Plastic dreams

Facades of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) in the Netherlands

Abstract

In the wake of the Second World War, architects and construction companies in the Netherlands started to experiment with the use of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) in architecture. At the time this combination of polyester and fibreglass, which is strong, malleable and lightweight, was seen as an ideal building material. Yet to date very little research has been carried out into the use of FRP in Dutch architecture. This article investigates the social changes that prompted architects and construction companies to experiment with FRP.
After the Second World War various factories in the transport industry were keen to find new markets for their expertise with FRP. They found them in housing construction. The plastic material was eminently suited to system building, a process that speeded up the construction of much-needed housing. Thanks to its high load-bearing capacity and factory production, FRP was ideal for the sandwich panels used in this construction method.
Another factor in FRP’s favour was the prevailing sense of optimism about the future in the Netherlands in that period. Architects were considering new, flexible forms of living and the designs they produced gave residents the freedom to organize, extend and even relocate their dwelling. Some architects also felt that the outward appearance of buildings should change – that a new era demanded new forms. Buildings should express an optimistic view of the future, and for that FRP, which could be produced in a wide range of shapes and colours, was ideal. Until 1973, that is, when the global oil crisis caused the price of oil to rise so steeply that the use of FRP in large-scale housing projects ceased to be cost-effective.
Many of the buildings containing FRP have since been demolished. The earliest examples were often experimental prototypes, one-off structures not intended for long-term occupancy. Plastic never became really popular as a building material for housing; people were reluctant to exchange their solid brick or concrete dwellings for a plastic version.
Fast forward to today and the restoration and preservation of buildings constructed with FRP is problematical since the relevant expertise is still lacking in the heritage sector. Nonetheless, interest in plastic architecture is growing, accompanied by an emphasis on preservation rather than demolition. This new approach is a corollary of the increasing interest in post-1965 architecture. The negative image of FRP is gradually starting to change.