Jan Buijs

Jan Willem Eduard Buijs, sometimes written Jan Buys (26 August 1889 – 19 October 1961) was a Dutch architect, best known for his De Volharding Building. His works include manufacturing, commercial, residential and municipal buildings. Stylistically, they usually combine New Objectivist and De Stijl features, and in his interiors, a Bauhaus approach.

Buijs' parents were Willem Roeland Buijs, an engineer, and Georgina Catherine Antoinette Kuypers. He was born and raised in Surakarta and attended the hogere burgerschool there before moving with his family back to the Netherlands in 1908. In 1909 he entered the Technical College at Delft (now the Delft University of Technology) to study architectural engineering.

After graduating in 1919, he was engaged on the recommendation of as assistant architect in the Department of Public Works of the municipality of Haarlem. Among other work of this period is the Stedelijk Gymnasium, the city gymnasium or Latin School (1923–24). He also designed a number of private residences, mostly in The Hague and Wassenaar.

In 1924, Buijs formed the private architectural firm of Buijs and Lürsen in The Hague with Joan Lürsen, with whom he had become acquainted in Haarlem. Buijs was the designer and Lürsen oversaw construction. In addition to the commercial buildings for which he is known, he continued to design private residences, mostly in The Hague, Wassenaar and Voorschoten. After the Second World War, during which he suffered badly from depression, his work included a number of factories, and blocks of flats in The Hague and Vlaardingen. His unbuilt designs include the Free School in the Hague during the 1920s and the Troelstra mausoleum and the Academy of Fine Arts in the Hague in the 1930s. During the war he also produced a master-plan for arts institutions in The Hague, but Willem Marinus Dudok's plan was adopted instead.

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