Ontwerp voor een poort voor een tentoonstelling van de Ambachtsschool 1902

This is Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries’s design for a gate for an exhibition of the Ambachtsschool, made in 1902. He rendered it in pencil and watercolor, a traditional medium for architectural drawings. But of course, this isn’t a building, it's a gate - a threshold, a point of entry into a world of making. The Ambachtsschool was a vocational school that focused on teaching craft skills. De Vries’s design reflects the school’s mission, featuring stylized, geometric forms painted in pale shades of blue and gold. The design evokes both the Arts and Crafts movement and early Art Deco. The drawing itself is a kind of craft, made with care. It reminds us that the ideology of the school was not just about the skill of manual work but also about design – about bringing artistic expression into the world of labor. This was a progressive idea at the time, seeking to uplift the status of craft and give dignity to the trades.