Carel Weeber (1937–2025) loved rationality and controversy

In 1955, a young Carel (Carlos) Weeber arrived in Delft fresh off the boat from Curaçao. He ended up studying Architecture mainly because it was at the top of the alphabetical list, as he once wrote in a Delta column about his student days. A fellow first-year student had suggested it to him. Weeber wrote that ‘During the first weeks, I lived in a school building and had a shaved head. Later, I met my unknown young advisor again in the lecture halls of Architecture. Nine years later, we successfully graduated together and were immediately offered a position by our professor. We never left.’

At the age of 32 in 1969, Weeber was appointed Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, a position he held until his retirement in 2003. In addition to his academic career, he designed controversial buildings and actively engaged in public debates on housing and urban planning.

Architecture lecturer Dr Dirk van den Heuvel, who graduated under Weeber in 1994, recalls that “He was a popular lecturer. Students appreciated his critical and analytical thinking. In debates, he had a knack for pinpointing the real issue, often in a sharp but entertaining way.”

As an architect, Weeber stood out for his large-scale social housing projects

Weeber’s entry into the world of architecture – a proposal for a new Amsterdam Central Station – immediately earned him the Prix de Rome in 1966.

A Radical Mirror

As an architect, Weeber stood out for his large-scale social housing projects that contrasted sharply with the small-scale residential neighbourhoods of the time. He approached social housing as an engineering task, disregarding architectural praise or criticism. “He translated the brief into a radical architectural solution through the logic of construction, holding up a mirror to Dutch society,” says Van den Heuvel. Weeber championed a rational approach to building – more ‘polytechnique’ than ‘beaux arts’, as Van den Heuvel puts it.

Residential buildings like De Peperklip in Rotterdam (549 homes, completed in 1982) and De Zwarte Madonna in The Hague (336 homes, completed in 1985 and later demolished) were his statements against the taming of residential design. One common criticism of De Zwarte Madonna was that it was not an appropriate form of housing. “But in his office, there was a framed letter from a happy resident,” Van den Heuvel recalls. “That meant enough to him to frame it.”

Chaos, he believed, could liberate people from imposed order and uniformity

Weeber argued that the Faculty of Architecture should be renamed the Faculty of Building Engineering, while architecture itself belonged in an art academy. Van den Heuvel believes this wasn’t just provocation. “He genuinely cared about education. He wanted students to be well-prepared for professional practice.” Meanwhile, the accolades kept coming, including the Sikkens Prize (1983), Beton Prize (1983), National Steel Prize (1986), and a knighthood (1996).

A Clash of Aesthetics

A defining moment in his clash with colleagues was the De Struyck student housing complex in The Hague, completed in 1997. Named after artist Peter Struycken, who designed the building’s enormous geometric brickwork patterns, it earned Weeber the title of Worst Architect in the Netherlands in a de Volkskrant newspaper survey. Weeber dismissed this criticism as “traditional and conservative”. The chaotic brick envelope was meant to disrupt the environment – just as, in his view, students should.

He, in turn, criticised the conformity in his profession. In the NRC newspaper, he said ‘Put me in Nieuwegein or Zoetermeer, and I wouldn’t be able to tell where I am. Even the new Vinex housing developments (purpose-built commuter areas, ed.) will all look alike, thanks to the aesthetic control of urban planning committees that ensure order and neatness.’ In contrast, Weeber advocated ‘wild living’, where people could get materials from a DIY store and build their own homes without bureaucratic interference. Chaos, he believed, could liberate people from imposed order and uniformity.

After retiring from TU Delft, he returned to his birthplace, designing and building his own house on Curaçao. Struycken became his neighbour there, Van den Heuvel notes. Weeber distanced himself not only physically from the Netherlands but also from architecture itself, declaring himself an ex-architect in 2005.

In 2006, he received the Maaskant Lifetime Achievement Award, commenting, “It feels like recognition, but maybe I got it because I quit.”

Weeber passed away at the age of 87 after suffering from Alzheimer’s in his final years.