Rietveld Schröder House is an iconic masterpiece of the architecture world. Although, to the average public, it is just a pretty house. The house is of huge importance to designers worldwide. It makes its way into the art and architecture industry and professors praise it. The Schröder house designed in 1924, is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage.
Schröder House is more than just a house
The renounced designer Gerrit Rietveld designed the house for Truus Schröder, hence the name. Schröder envisioned the house to create a connection between inside and outside. A design creating openness and going against conventional systematic ways. Rietveld was always against traditional ways. He worked side by side with Schroder until the design reached perfection. Rietveld was famous for his furniture design like his Red and Blue Chair and this building represents the De Stijl movement in all its glory.
Rietveld’s dynamic interior design
The interior is what sets the Schröder house to be unique. As one enters the inside, the spatial understanding of ‘ordinary rooms’ disappears. There is no static location for the dining room or the living room. It is a dynamic and changeable open zone. The part of the house which kept to ‘traditional’ would be the central location of the staircase and the kitchen. The first floor consists of a living area stated to be an attic to attain to fire regulations. It technically forms a large open space, excluding the bathroom/toilet.
Schröder’s living room
The beauty of interior design lies in the upstairs living room. Schroder wanted to play with the living space instead of leaving it as open. She saw it to be used as either open or subdivided. This vision helped Rietveld build a system of sliding and revolving panels. It created an area where rooms were constantly changing and adapting. Each room has its own spatial experience. Schroder had three kids. To be able to constantly change the space gave her and her children freedom.
Detached Façade of Schröder
The De Stijl art movement is expressed in the facade. It consists of a collage of planes and lines that detach and seem to glide past one another. These components enable the provision of several balconies and they each have their own form, position and color. The main colors chosen are white and shades of grey. Black windows/doorframes and linear elements in primary colors. The same color palette used on the lines and places flows from outside to inside allowing a small distinction between interior and exterior space.
De Stijl and the Schröder House
De Stijl, also known as Neoplasticism, is distinguished by the form and essential colors. It keeps to visual simplification expressed in horizontal and vertical, using only black, white and primary colors. In much simple terms ‘pure abstraction.’ The Schroder house is one of the greatest examples of De Stijl. Simplicity in its form, essential colors, and the flow of inside and outer space.
For more information on the Rietveld Schröder House.
Published on Utrecht Central
Comments