Schrder House Gerrit Rietveld Utretcht, Netherlands 1924

Sergio Valds/ Karol Campos

Gerrit Thomas Rietveld

(b. Utrecht, Netherlands 1888; d. Utrecht, Netherlands 1964)

Gerrit Rietveld worked as a young man with his fathers 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.

C O N C E P T

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

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

This house consists in the dematerialization of a prism, with ample openings to the outside. Early modern style.

V o l u m e t r y

D i s t r i b u t i o n

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

The whole house has been designed to consider the purpose of each room and how space can be used most efficiently.

D i s t r i b u t i o n

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.

First Floor Plan

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 .

D i s t r i b u t i o n

Sections

D i s t r i b u t i o n

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 demateriali zation 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 faade. The use of glass gives a contrasting reflective surface.

 the new architecture is anticubic; 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.

Criticism
Gerrit Rietveld worked closely in collaboration with the client for this house. More than any other, this is eitherin Banhams wordsa 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 onesthe point being that in either positioning of windows or moveable walls, the house retained its neoplastic hypothesis. David Dunster.

-Theo Van Doesburg

Comparative Villa Savoye

Located in Paris, France. Designed by LeCorbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. Built between 1928 - 1931.

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

Conclusion
In conclusion the Schrder 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 buildings 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 schrder house in utrecht. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/interiorsandshopping/7036984/Interiordesign-The-Schroder-House-in-Utrecht.html