1,720,962 research outputs found
The company premises as passport : an analysis of the company photos of two post-war Belgian building contractors
No full textAbstract: In several academic disciplines that focus on (historical) building practice there is growing interest in building contractors and their employees. Their contribution and influence are increasingly the subject of research. After the Second World War the contractor\u2019s field of work was defined by productivity, specialization and industrialization, which profoundly altered the professional character of this branch of industry. Social developments and the prevailing idea of an all-encompassing welfare state triggered top-down and bottom-up changes in this traditionally highly cyclical sector. This fostered diversity in the contracting world, yet those diverse profiles and identities often remain unrecognized today. This is compounded by the fact that, unlike architects for example, the source material left behind by contractors and their employees is usually less informative and often fragmented.This article seeks to demonstrate the potential of alternative source material by analysing company photos in order to better understand the profile and identity of two post-war Belgian contractors. During their existence, Van Coillie of Oostende (1919-1976) and Van Laere of Kruibeke (1938-1989) amassed extensive collections of photographs, which were recently made accessible by the Flanders Architecture Institute (VAi). The focus of this article is on a series of photos from the 1960s and \u201970s depicting the headquarters of both companies. These company premises and buildings were the very heart of the businesses, which adopted a pragmatic or strategic design to reflect their profile and identity. The selected photos are compared with information gleaned from a series of in-depth interviews with exemployees in order to place the companies in their particular historical context.The analysis is in two parts, the first of which focuses on the site, the company architecture and the implanting. This reveals information about the size and organization of the contractors, as well as about their company strategy and professional profile. For example, they used these elements to create a strong position in the building sector and in so doing cement their reputation. The second part analyses a few interiors of the 1961 Van Laere headquarters. A detailed visual examination reveals how these spaces reflected the internal organization and hierarchical structure and how Van Laere projected its company image both internally and externally. The pictures also chart the development of an organizational culture and a body of values and norms that in turn shaped the company identity. The company management, the internal organization and the social and local network in which the firms were embedded, consequently had a considerable effect on the position they occupied as individual players in building practice. The main finding from these two analyses is that these post-war construction players were highly diverse. A critical and biographical sketch in terms of activities, profile and identity is consequently a necessary starting point for a detailed analysis of their position and role within national and international post-war building practice. This article shows what a rich source photographic material can be in developing such a sketch
De Internationale van Oorlogstegenstanders (1965-1991) : een eigenzinnige schakel binnen de Vlaamse vredesbeweging
No full textAbstract: De brede Vlaamse vredesbeweging die in de context van de Koude Oorlog in Vlaanderen actief was, bestond uit een kluwen van organisaties, elk met hun eigen karakter. Een microstudie van deze afzonderlijke actoren kan belangrijke inzichten leveren bij de beeldvorming van dit maat schappelijk verschijnsel. Een van de voornaamste schakels die de Vlaamse vredes beweging tijdens de laatste drie decennia van de 20e eeuw mee vormgaf, was de Internationale van Oorlogstegenstanders (IOT). Deze organisatie, ontstaan in 1965 als regionale afdeling van de War Resisters\u2019 International (WRI), entte zich oorspronkelijk op het fenomeen van dienst weigering. Al snel profileerde de IOT zich als een actieve, pluralistische organisatie met een radicaalpacifistische insteek en een eigen brede vredesvisie. Dit artikel toont via een chrono-logi sche, inhoudelijke en institutionele ana lyse van de beweging aan dat de IOT het maat schappelijk protest tegen de politieke besluit vorming en het veiligheidsbeleid in Vlaan deren wist te koppelen aan haar uitgesproken radicale vredesvisie. Die visie wist de IOT als eigenzinnige actor bovendien te bestendigen in de schoot van de brede Vlaamse vredesbeweging en de koepels Overlegcentrum voor de Vrede (OCV) en Vlaams Aktiekomitee tegen Atoomwapens (VAKA), waarvan ze in de late jaren 1970 mee aan de basis lag
Het bedrijfsterrein als paspoort: Fotocollecties van twee Belgische naoorlogse aannemers doorgelicht
Full text linkIn several academic disciplines that focus on (historical) building practice there is growing interest in building contractors and their employees. Their contribution and influence are increasingly the subject of research. After the Second World War the contractor’s field of work was defined by productivity, specialization and industrialization, which profoundly altered the professional character of this branch of industry. Social developments and the prevailing idea of an all-encompassing welfare state triggered top-down and bottom-up changes in this traditionally highly cyclical sector. This fostered diversity in the contracting world, yet those diverse profiles and identities often remain unrecognized today. This is compounded by the fact that, unlike architects for example, the source material left behind by contractors and their employees is usually less informative and often fragmented.
This article seeks to demonstrate the potential of alternative source material by analysing company photos in order to better understand the profile and identity of two post-war Belgian contractors. During their existence, Van Coillie of Oostende (1919-1976) and Van Laere of Kruibeke (1938-1989) amassed extensive collections of photographs, which were recently made accessible by the Flanders Architecture Institute (VAi). The focus of this article is on a series of photos from the 1960s and ’70s depicting the headquarters of both companies. These company premises and buildings were the very heart of the businesses, which adopted a pragmatic or strategic design to reflect their profile and identity. The selected photos are compared with information gleaned from a series of in-depth interviews with ex-employees in order to place the companies in their particular historical context.
The analysis is in two parts, the first of which focuses on the site, the company architecture and the implanting. This reveals information about the size and organization of the contractors, as well as about their company strategy and professional profile. For example, they used these elements to create a strong position in the building sector and in so doing cement their reputation. The second part analyses a few interiors of the 1961 Van Laere headquarters. A detailed visual examination reveals how these spaces reflected the internal organization and hierarchical structure and how Van Laere projected its company image both internally and externally. The pictures also chart the development of an organizational culture and a body of values and norms that in turn shaped the company identity. The company management, the internal organization and the social and local network in which the firms were embedded, consequently had a considerable effect on the position they occupied as individual players in building practice. The main finding from these two analyses is that these post-war construction players were highly diverse. A critical and biographical sketch in terms of activities, profile and identity is consequently a necessary starting point for a detailed analysis of their position and role within national and international post-war building practice. This article shows what a rich source photographic material can be in developing such a sketch.Binnen verschillende academische disciplines die zich op de (historische) bouwpraktijk richten, groeit de aandacht voor aannemers en hun medewerkers. Anders dan binnen de klassieke architectuurhistorische benadering worden hun aandeel en hun zeggenschap steeds vaker voorwerp van onderzoek. Na de Tweede Wereldoorlog werd het werkterrein van de aannemer gaandeweg gekenmerkt door productiviteit, specialisatie en industrialisatie, wat het professionele karakter van deze nijverheidstak grondig wijzigde. Maatschappelijke evoluties en de heersende idee van een allesomvattende welvaartstaat brachten van boven- en van onderaf veranderingen teweeg in deze traditioneel sterk conjunctuurgevoelige sector. In die context rees de diversiteit in de aannemerswereld, waarbij hun profiel en identiteit vandaag echter vaak ongekend blijven. Daarnaast hebben aannemers en hun medewerkers, in tegenstelling tot bijvoorbeeld architecten, doorgaans minder informatief en vaak fragmentair bronnenmateriaal nagelaten.
Dit artikel probeert het potentieel van alternatief bronnenmateriaal aan te tonen door via een analyse van bedrijfsfoto’s het profiel en de identiteit van twee Belgische naoorlogse aannemers te doorgronden. Aannemers Van Coillie uit Oostende (1919-1976) en Van Laere uit Kruibeke (1938-1989) creëerden tijdens hun bestaan twee aanzienlijke fotocollecties, die recent door het Vlaams Architectuurinstituut (VAi) zijn ontsloten. Hierbij gaat specifiek aandacht uit naar een serie foto’s uit de jaren zestig en zeventig die de hoofdvestigingen van de bedrijven in beeld brengen. Deze bedrijfsterreinen en -gebouwen vormden het hart van de ondernemingen, die via een pragmatische of strategische inrichting hun profiel en identiteit weerspiegelden. In dit artikel worden de geselecteerde foto’s getoetst aan informatie die is ingewonnen uit een serie diepte-interviews met oud-medewerkers, om ze binnen hun specifieke historische context te kaderen.
De analyse beslaat twee onderdelen, waarvan het eerste deel zich richt op het terrein, de bedrijfsarchitectuur en de inplanting. Dit geeft niet enkel informatie prijs over de omvang en de organisatie van de bouwfirma’s, maar ook over de bedrijfsstrategie en het professionele profiel. Via deze factoren probeerden ze bijvoorbeeld een sterke positie te creëren binnen de bouwpraktijk en zo hun naam te bestendigen. Het tweede deel analyseert enkele interieurs van het in 1961 opgetrokken Van Laere-hoofdkantoor. Een gelaagde visuele observatie toont aan hoe deze ruimtes onder meer de interne organisatie en de hiërarchische structuur uitademden en hoe Van Laere zich als bedrijf zowel intern als extern profileerde. De beelden maken eveneens duidelijk hoe er zich een organisatiecultuur en een geheel van waarden en normen ontwikkelden, die de bedrijfsidentiteit vormgaven. De bedrijfsleiding, de interne organisatie en het sociaal en lokaal netwerk waarin de firma’s waren ingebed, hadden bijgevolg een grote invloed op de plaats die ze als individuele actoren binnen de bouwpraktijk innamen. De voornaamste bevinding die uit deze twee benaderingen volgt, is de grote diversiteit die deze naoorlogse bouwactoren kenmerkt. Een kritische en biografische schets op vlak van activiteiten, profiel en identiteit is daarom noodzakelijk als vertrekpunt voor de ontleding van hun positie en de rol binnen de (inter)nationale naoorlogse bouwpraktijk. De analyses tonen hoe het fotomateriaal een rijke bron kan zijn om deze schets op te zetten.
 
Antwerpse bouwwerven belicht : de naoorlogse bouwwerf als een veelzijdige afspiegeling van de evoluerende bouwpraktijk
No full textBuilding in a transforming society : an exploration of the dynamic interplay between construction workers and contractors in post-war Belgium, 1944-1980
No full textAbstract: This study explores the evolving social dynamics between contractors and workers in the Belgian construction industry during the first three decades after the Second World War. As a key driver of economic growth, construction played a crucial role in rebuilding society and infrastructure, with success depending on cooperation between employers and employees. Despite institutionalised social dialogue, tensions remained due to conflicting interests between capital and labour, making social relations in construction complex and dynamic. Positioned at the crossroads of construction and social history, this study addresses a gap in those research fields by examining worker-employer interactions and the agency that arises from these relationships. It adopts a multi-level approach, concentrating on both the sectoral and company levels. Social relations in the construction industry are examined through issues such as productivity, working conditions, safety and training. Case studies of three contractors highlight differences between sector-wide trends and company-specific practices, drawing on interviews, visual material, and written sources. Moreover, the study situates workplace dynamics within Belgium's broader societal changes. This approach reveals that cooperation and conflict between contractors and workers was one of the driving forces behind the modernisation of the industry. Technological advancements and changes in the division of labour were motivated by shared goals, though disparities existed between firms and construction methods. The study demonstrates how sectoral changes influenced daily work practices and social structures in the industry and vice versa, offering new insights into the historical development of the Belgian construction industry
Voices from the Post-War Belgian building industry : a study of a general contractor and its involvement in building practices via oral history
No full textAbstract: Contractors are key actors in the construction process and take a leading role in the finalisation of a building. Researching the history of these contractors, therefore, not only provides information on the actor and their close involvement with the construction site, but also on the entirety of building practices within the site boundary. However, the preservation and accessibility of the contractors' archives is a stumbling block, and the builders themselves have also left very little source material. By including oral history in the research on a Belgian contractor Van Laere (\ub01938), this case study aims to show how this gap in source material can be bridged to some extent. Interviews with five former employees of the company provide information about the historical evolution of the company, the interaction between different company actors and their activity on the site, allows the recognition and positioning of this actor within post-war Belgian building practice
Public works contractors in Antwerp in the 19th and 20th centuries
No full textAbstract: Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the city of Antwerp underwent a significant transformation. At the end of the ancient regime, the port city regained its position as an economic metropolis, and, with the demolition of the city walls in the second half of the 19th century, the urban fabric burst out of its centuries-old boundaries. In the last 200 years, the port area has expanded as one of the main arteries of the national economy. Moreover, the city has managed to consolidate its political, social and economic position within the country. Building and renovation, with public works as one of the main drivers, have played an unmistakable role in these developments. The city has pursued an active building policy, but the actors involved - such as architects and contractors - were also happy to make use of this evolution to develop their own m\ue9tier within the context of city building. The authors shed light on a part of this evolution within Antwerp. Inge Bertels focuses on the 19th and early 20th centuries, in which factors such as the introduction of the system of public tendering had a significant influence on the growing number of contractors in the city, the development of their professional status and their relationship with the surrounding political system. Jelle Angillis then covers the second part of the 20th century. He shows how political and economic decision-making created a basis for public works that would further shape the city. He then uses a case study to highlight how one local contractor was able to develop within that urban expansion
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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