For many, the Eigen Haard housing estate – also known as Het Schip – will not immediately appear to be modern. And indeed, its solidity and permanence do evoke a more traditional style of building. However, it was designed in 1917-1920 by Michel de Klerk with many ideas that sought to radically change the way in which people lived, and this solidity was intended to combat the uprootedness and flux created by modern life. Located in what was then an outer district of Amsterdam, it has a progressive mixed-use programme incorporating 102 dwellings for the working classes, a community hall and a post office. In terms of its architectural form, the design treats the perimeter as a single sculptural unit with one principal material – brick – in ways that are still aspirational for architects using other materials today. Its changes in rhythm, texture, scale and colour hint at changes of interior function and disposition. It was described in the 1930s as the first successful modern vernacular.