Post on 03-Mar-2015
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