Gerrit Rietveld 1888-1964

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Gerrit Rietveld1888-1964

• We didn't avoid older styles because they were
  ugly, or because we couldn't reproduce them, but
  because our own times demanded their own form, I
  mean, their own manifestation. It was of course
  extremely difficult to achieve all this in spite
  of the building regulations and that's why the
  interior of the downstairs part of the house is
  somewhat traditional, I mean with fixed walls.
  But upstairs we simply called it an 'attic' and
  that's where we actually made the house we
  wanted.
• Gerrit Rietveld speaking about the Schröder House

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The chronological contextof Rietvelds
architecture
Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism - Chronological context in Architecture - Modernism to Postmodernism -
1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
First generation modernists First generation modernists First generation modernists Second generation modernists Second generation modernists Second generation modernists Second generation modernists Third generation modernists Third generation modernists Third generation modernists Third generation modernists
The pioneers of modernism. They each treated form, space, structure, materials and ornament in novel ways. The pioneers of modernism. They each treated form, space, structure, materials and ornament in novel ways. The pioneers of modernism. They each treated form, space, structure, materials and ornament in novel ways. These were the architects of high modernism- the universal International Style- as well as the fashionable Art Deco period. These were the architects of high modernism- the universal International Style- as well as the fashionable Art Deco period. These were the architects of high modernism- the universal International Style- as well as the fashionable Art Deco period. These were the architects of high modernism- the universal International Style- as well as the fashionable Art Deco period. These were the architects of Postmodernism. They reacted against the orthodoxy of high modernism. These were the architects of Postmodernism. They reacted against the orthodoxy of high modernism. These were the architects of Postmodernism. They reacted against the orthodoxy of high modernism. These were the architects of Postmodernism. They reacted against the orthodoxy of high modernism.
Peter Behrens - Berlin Peter Behrens - Berlin Peter Behrens - Berlin Walter Gropius Walter Gropius Walter Gropius Walter Gropius Frank Gehry Frank Gehry Frank Gehry Frank Gehry
Auguste Perret - Paris Auguste Perret - Paris Auguste Perret - Paris Le Corbusier Le Corbusier Le Corbusier Le Corbusier Philip Johnson Philip Johnson Philip Johnson Philip Johnson
C. R. Mackintosh - Glasgow C. R. Mackintosh - Glasgow C. R. Mackintosh - Glasgow Mies van der Rohe Mies van der Rohe Mies van der Rohe Mies van der Rohe Charles Moore Charles Moore Charles Moore Charles Moore
Otto Wagner - Vienna Otto Wagner - Vienna Otto Wagner - Vienna Gerrit Rietveld Gerrit Rietveld Gerrit Rietveld Gerrit Rietveld I. M. Pei I. M. Pei I. M. Pei I. M. Pei
Adolf Loos - Vienna Adolf Loos - Vienna Adolf Loos - Vienna William Van Allen William Van Allen William Van Allen William Van Allen Michael Greaves Michael Greaves Michael Greaves Michael Greaves
Louis Sullivan - Chicago Louis Sullivan - Chicago Louis Sullivan - Chicago Napier Art Deco architects Napier Art Deco architects Napier Art Deco architects Napier Art Deco architects Louis Kahn Louis Kahn Louis Kahn Louis Kahn
Frank Lloyd Wright - Chicago and mid-western states of USA Frank Lloyd Wright - Chicago and mid-western states of USA Frank Lloyd Wright - Chicago and mid-western states of USA Frank Lloyd Wright - Chicago and mid-western states of USA Frank Lloyd Wright - Chicago and mid-western states of USA Frank Lloyd Wright - Chicago and mid-western states of USA Frank Lloyd Wright - Chicago and mid-western states of USA Robert Venturi Robert Venturi Robert Venturi Robert Venturi
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The context of his architecture

• Geographical context
• Gerrit Rietveld was a Dutch furniture maker,
  architect and designer based in Utrecht,
• Holland.

Utrecht
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Context and the De Stijl Movement

• Historical context
• Gerrit Rietveld was a pioneer of the
  International Style of modernist architecture.
  Through his furniture and architecture he became
  one of the most influential designers of the 20th
  century. His most significant building is the
  Schröder House in Utrecht, Holland constructed in
  1924.
• Rietveld was a second generation modernist and a
  contemporary of Le Corbusier and Mies van der
  Rohe.
• Rietveld was a founding member of the Dutch De
  Stijl movement. His designs were influenced by
  Frank Lloyd Wright and the abstract expressionist
  paintings of Mondrian. Rietveld and the De Stijl
  group had a significant influence on the Bauhaus
  and the early work of Mies van der Rohe.
• Click here to find out what the De Stijl movement
  was and to answer the following
• What does the term De Stijl mean, and how did
  the name come into use?
• List FOUR stylistic features of De Stijl design.
• Name the three artists central to the De Stijl
  movement.
• When did the De Stijl movement enjoy its most
  success?
• Create your own De Stijl painting in the style of
  Piet Mondrian.

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The Schröder House, Utrecht, Holland, 1924
No one had ever looked at this little lane
before this house was built here. There was a
dirty crumbling wall with weeds growing in front
of it It was a deserted place, where anyone who
wanted to pee just did it against this wall. It
was a real piece of no-man's land. And we said,
'Yes, this is just right, let's build it here.'
And we took this plot of ground and made it into
a place with a reality of its ownand that's
always been my main aim to give to a
yet unformed space, a certain meaning. Gerrit
Rietveld
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The Schröder House, Utrecht, Holland, 1924

• Visit the house here to answer these questions
  about
• this buildings context and function
• Describe the circumstance in which Rietveld was
  commissioned to design the house.
• What evidence once existed of a personal
  relationship between the client, Mrs
  Schröder-Schräder and the architect Gerrit
  Rietveld?
• List THREE functions of the lower level of the
  house and TWO functions of the upper level of the
  house.
• Describe TWO ways space is treated in a modernist
  way in the upper level of the house.
• Gerrit Rietveld was impressed with the
  architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. See if you
  can identify THREE Wright influences in the
  design of this house.
• Describe the colour palette of this house and
  identify from the six images in the linked
  webpage SIX specific features of the house that
  are different in colour or shade of colour.
• Explain TWO ways this house exemplifies the
  concept of functionalist architecture.

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Plan of the Schröder House interiors
Ground floor plan.
Upper level floor plan.
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Stylistic features of the Schröder House -
exterior
The building appears as if a conceived as a
three dimensional Mondrian painting (far left,
centre) or the realisation of Theo van Doesburgs
neoplastic designs (far left top). Black and
primary-coloured accents compliment the white and
grey shades of the apparently floating planar
walls. Horizontal planes cantilever out from the
inner core of the building. Interior space flows
out via large windows and doors to patios and
balconies, while the views of the surrounding
countryside are admitted. Asymmetrical facades
consisting of abstracted three-dimensional
arrangements of rendered brick, glass and
concrete slabs that abut, overlap, intersect and
hover in space. No applied ornament.
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Stylistic features of the Schröder House -
interior

• Watch this short video of the interior of the
  Schröder House.
• Although the commentary is in Dutch, the visual
  information is
• very useful. It shows numerous stylistic and
  functionalist features
• of the house, including
• the intercom system for visitors
• the automated window for 2 litre milk deliveries
• the central stairwell
• the centripetal movement of interior space, and
  the
• way it unfolds, dissolves, transforms and
  escapes
• via corner windows and balconies.
• the fold-away partitions of the childrens
  bedrooms
• the upstairs folding partition that defines the
  passage-
• way, doorway and interior bathroom walls
• the coloured floor sections and built-in
  furniture
• the naked central heating radiators that feature
  the
• only curves in the entire house
• the linear and three-dimensional planar aesthetic
  of
• the entire environment.

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Examples of De Stijl design by Rietveld
Above left Berlin Chair, 1923 Above
centre High-back Chair, 1919 Above right
Red Blue Chair, 1918 Left Hanging
lamp, 1920 Right Side table, 1923
See a short video about these here.