Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud was born in Purmerend, North Holland in 1890. He began his education at theQuellinus School of Decorative Arts in Amsterdam and later began working with the studio of architecture by Jeseph Cuypers and Jan Stuyt in 1907. Oud was interested in architectural theory and found his lack of knowledge in that area frustrating. He left the studio after just six months to study at the National School for Art Education in Amsterdam. He had high expectations for the education he would receive at the School, but they did not materialize. He also attended classes at the Delft Technische Hogeschool, but was once again disappointed with the knowledge he gained. Oud worked in Theodor Fischer's Munich office for part of 1911 and attended Fischer's lectures at the Munich Polytechnic. These, along with other conferences and experiences in Germany, finally gave Oud what he was looking for in an architectural education. He returned to Purmerend, wanting to concentrate on new constructions and materials in his architecture. He started his own business, working mainly on residential projects. In the designs of his early career, Oud was influenced primarily by Berlage's ideas of honesty in construction and Frank Lloyd Wright's use of floating planes and volumes. In 1917 he designed a duplex workers' house in reinforced concrete. He wanted to move away from the restrictions of traditional brick construction, placing emphasis on the definition of plans, monumentality and the synthesis of theory and form. This project was never actually built, as Oud believed that "concrete construction is eminently suitable for plastic, three-dimensional architecture [but] certainly not applicable to this project." 1J.JP The influences of Oud ch...... middle of sheet ......92. p.116-1176. Hitchcock, Henry-Russell and Johnson, Philip. The International Style: Architecture since 1922. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1932 p. 44-467. Mallgrave, Harry. Theory of modern architecture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 p. 2448. Curtis, William JR Modern Architecture Since 1900. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996. p 2529. Colquhoun, Alan. Modern architecture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.10. Kruft, Hanno-Walter. A history of architectural theory from Vitruvius to the present day. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994. p. 180-1.11. Dennis Sharp. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Architects and Architecture. New York: Quatro Publishing, 1991. p117.12. Günther Stamm. The architecture of JJP Oud 1906-1963. Tallahassee: The University Presses of Florida, 1978.