The 15th century courtroom in Gouda's townhall
Years: 2022
Commissioned by: Nathan van Kleij, University of Amsterdam, history department
Research: Nathan van Kleij / Tijm Lanjouw
Modelling: Tijm Lanjouw
Project description: This project aimed at visualising the spatial arrangement and social use of the 15th century public courtroom in the town hall of Gouda, the Netherlands. These visualisations serve to support the hypotheses offered by van Kleij in his dissertation and are used as illustrations in a written paper on the subject of the social function of medieaval court of justice buildings in the Netherlands.
Since the town hall of Gouda has been deeply modified over the centuries, of the original court of justice (Dutch: "vierschaar") very little preserves. Using building historical research and historical parallels, various reconstruction hypotheses of the layout of this room have been developed. In addition, two different use scenerios have been reconstructed: one of the room during a court hearing, and one for common daily usage as public space.
Publications: