Schröder House Gerrit Rietveld

Utretcht, Netherlands

1924

Sergio Valdés/ Karol Campos

Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (b. Utrecht, Netherlands 1888; d. Utrecht, Netherlands 1964)

• Gerrit Rietveld worked as a young man with his father’s joinery business. After this he was an apprentice in a jewelry studio. In 1911 he started his own cabinet making company, which stayed in business for 8 years. During this years he started his architectural studies, through which he met some of the De Stijl founders.

• In the late 1920s, Netherlands was experimenting with the concept of “dematerialization”, which greatly influenced a series of houses in which Rietveld was involved.

• In 1928 he acted as a founding member of CIAM, the International Congress of Modern Achitecture.

The concept consists in the integration of a house though a

tree that was previously in the terrain by means of the

courtyard on the ground floor, fragmented spaces and

transparencies. A notable aspect of this house is the

independence of all the visual parts, achieved thought the

separation of planes; in other words, through

“dematerialization”. Also the use of color and the use of

free modulation of the horizontal and vertical.

"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. Over there was a

small farm. It was a very rural spot, and this sort of

fitted in. 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 own. It

didn't matter what it was, so long as something was

there, something clear. And that's what it became. And

that's always been my main aim: to give to a yet

unformed space, a certain meaning." -Gerrit Rietveld

C O N C E P T

SITE Prins Hendriklaan 50, Utrech, Netherlands.

Aerial photo shows how the building is orientated towards the countryside, unlike existing terraces which faced in towards the central road, so this change affects the whole feel of the building

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This house consists in the dematerialization of a

prism, with ample openings to the outside.

Early modern style.

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The whole house has

been designed to

consider the purpose of

each room and how

space can be used

most efficiently.

The house has two

levels, the ground

floor consists of a

hall, reading room,

studio,

kitchen-dining-living

room, bedroom and

working area and the

first floor where

dynamic spaces are

used and created by

the resident.

Ground Floor Plan

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The center of the floor plan of the house is the tight winding staircase, forming the core it invites you up into the main living space of the house. It is lit by a large box skylight directly overhead, preventing the centre of the house becoming too dark .

First Floor Plan

Rietveld unconventionally positioned the main living space upstairs in response to the surroundings, giving amazing views across the surrounding countryside. It is a large open plan space that allows the space has the ability to adapt to specific requirements of the time, event and atmosphere. This has been done through the use of sliding and rotating partition walls, giving a dynamic space.

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Sections

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SW Elevation

SE Elevation

Heart

• Clearly the heart of the house is the second floor, this is because it has a series of movable screens that reflect the ideas of dematerialization proposed by Rietveld.

Structure &

Materials

• The foundations and the balconies of this house are the only parts o made out of concrete. The walls are made of brick and plaster. The window frames and doors were made from wood as well as the floors, which were supported by wooden beams. To support the building, steel girders with wire mesh were used.

The main structural walls are seen

on the plans and elevations, running

the whole way up the building.

These are emphasised using

contrasting colours and projecting

them from the main façade.

The use of glass gives a contrasting

reflective surface.

Criticism • “the new architecture is anti-

cubic; that is, it does not seek to

fix the various space cells

together within a closed cube, but

throws the functional space cells

away from the centre, towards the

outside, whereby height, width,

depth and time tend towards a

wholly new plastic expression in

open space”.

-Theo Van Doesburg

“Gerrit Rietveld worked closely in

collaboration with the client for this house.

More

than any other, this is either—in Banham’s

words—’a cardboard Mondrian’ or an

enormous piece of furniture masquerading

as a house. All windows could only be

opened up completely, at right angles to

frames, repeating the devices by which

the upper floor could be transformed from

one single space into a series of smaller

ones—the point being that in either

positioning of windows or moveable walls,

the

house retained its neoplastic hypothesis.”

David Dunster.

Comparative

Villa Savoye

• Located in Paris,

France.

• Designed by

LeCorbusier and

Pierre Jeanneret.

• Built between 1928

- 1931.

• The main differences between the Schröder House and the Villa Savoye are the structure, the use of wall dematerialization and the utilization of wall openings.

Conclusion

• In conclusion the Schröder House is the only building based 100% in the De Stijl movement. This is why the UNESCO considers it a world heritage site.

• This house innovated the architectural scene wildly, because of the dematerialization that took place all along the house. Also, the closeness with the client and the lack of requirements made this building’s innovation possible.

Bibliography

• Marijke Kuper, Ida Van Ziji. Gerrit Thomas Rietveld : The Complete Works

1888 1964.

• Great Buildings, Initials. (n.d.). Schroder house. Retrieved from

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Schroder_House.html

• Galinsky, Initials. (n.d.). Schroder house. Retrieved from

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/schroder/index.htm

• Albert Hill, Initials. (2010, January 21). Interior design: the schröder house in

utrecht. Retrieved from

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/interiorsandshopping/7036984/Interior-

design-The-Schroder-House-in-Utrecht.html