Jan Frederik Staal

Jan Frederik ("Frits") Staal (Amsterdam, 28 February 1879 – Amsterdam, 8 April 1940), was a Dutch architect, and a major figure in the development of modern architecture in the Netherlands in the first half of the twentieth century. He was the father of the architects Arthur and Georges Staal and the linguist and South Asia scholar Jan Frederik Staal (also nicknamed "Frits").

Career The former Telegraaf headquarters on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in Amsterdam. Jan Frederik Staal was born into a family of builders in Amsterdam. His father was a partner in the contracting firm Staal and Haalmeyer, in whose office J.F. Staal began working around the turn of the century. It was there in 1902 that he met Alexander Jacobus Kropholler, with whom he formed a partnership in 1903. Initially, the designs of the partners were constructed by his father's firm. One of the first of these were the offices of the life insurance company De Utrecht, located on the Damrak in central Amsterdam, which are still used by the company and constitute a striking example of Dutch Nieuwe Kunst (Art Nouveau) architecture in the city. At the same time, they completed another branch office for the company in Leeuwarden.

Staal and Kropholler dissolved their partnership in 1910, after which time Staal began to move closer to the design currents of the Amsterdam School, which would coalesce in the Netherlands while the country remained neutral during World War I.

The first monograph on Staal, Jan Frederik Staal (1879–1940) – The Will of the Building and the Will of the Time, appeared in 2015, authored by Hans Willem Bakx and published by the Bonas Foundation.

Politics and personal life Staal was a lifelong socialist, and even joined the Communist Party in the Netherlands. She was the sister of Staal's former partner Alexander Kropholler. They are buried in the New Eastern Cemetery in Amsterdam.

Staal had five children, four of whom from relationships he had before he married his wife. His son Arthur Staal (1907–1993) was also an architect and in 1966 designed the Overhoeks Tower in Amsterdam-Noord. His son Georges Staal was also an architect and a third son Fred Staal, died in the Dutch East Indies. A fourth son was the linguist Frits Staal (1930–2012), who, however, had a different mother than Arthur, Georges and Fred. Margareth, or Maggie Venekamp-Staal, was his youngest child, from his marriage to Margaret.

Works 1903: De Utrecht branch office, Leeuwarden (with A. Kropholler) 1905: De Utrecht headquarters, Amsterdam, Damrak 28-30 (with A. Kropholler) 1905: De Utrecht shops, Amsterdam, Damrak 26 (with A. Kropholler) 1905: De Utrecht fire station, Hilvarenbeek (with A. Kropholler) 1906: De Utrecht archive building, Utrecht (with A. Kropholler; demolished) 1906: De Utrecht branch office, Choorstraat 14, Utrecht (with A. Kropholler) 1913: Amsterdamsche Handelsbank, Herengracht, Amsterdam 1915–1918: Park Meerwijk with the villas De Ark, De Bark, Bilbad, Elifaz en Zofar, Bergen, (North Holland) 1919–1920: Eigen Huis housing complex, Linnaeusparkweg, Amsterdam 1922–1923: J.M. Coenenstraat housing complex, Amsterdam 1925: Dutch Pavilion for the Exposition des arts décoratifs et industriels, Paris (demolished) 1927–1928: Aalsmeer Auction House, Aalsmeer 1927–1930: De Telegraaf Headquarters, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, Amsterdam 1927–1930: The 12-Story House ("De Wolkenkrabber"; The Skyscraper), Amsterdam 1935: Uitbreiding, a Jewish home for the elderly and disabled, Weesperplein, Amsterdam 1935–1940: Exchange, Rotterdam 1938–1939: Housing at the corner of Apollolaan (65–85) and Beethovenstraat (3–9), Amsterdam