AIREY Houses | Jerusalem

After World War II there was a great housing shortage. In Amersfoort, this was addressed with the Nemavo-Airey system: fast-to-build, affordable prefab homes, developed from a design by English engineer Sir Edwin Airey. In 1950, 223 of these homes appeared behind the Grote Koppel. The neighborhood was named Jerusalem, possibly because of the white appearance of the homes with their simple gabled roofs reminiscent of the historic city of Jerusalem. Another, more plausible explanation, is that the neighborhood was named after a vanished farm of the same name. Since then, the neighborhood has been thoroughly renovated and the green design is particularly striking, giving the historic reconstruction character a contemporary look.