‘Gerrit Rietveld – The Revolution of Space’ Exhibition
Taking place now until September 16, 2012, the Vitra Design Museum is exhibiting “Gerrit Rietveld – The Revolution of Space”. The Dutchman Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) was one of the most important designers and architects of the 20th century. Today his work is primarily associated with his two most famous designs, which have become icons of modernism: the Red-Blue Chair (1918/1923) and the Rietveld-Schröder House (1924). But this exhibition shows that Rietveld’s oeuvre contains many more facets that deserve to be rediscovered. This is the first major retrospective on Gerrit Rietveld to be presented to the German-speaking public since 1996. Comprising around 320 objects – including furniture, models, paintings, photographs, films and approximately 100 original drawings and plans – it offers a comprehensive overview of the Dutch designer’s work. For more information on the exhibition, please visit here.
Review: De Stoel van Rietveld: Rietveld’s Chair, book + film by Marijke Kuper & Lex Reitsma
“It is hard to tell what the value of something eventually will be”
– Gerrit Rietveld, 1937.
This new insight into a classic illustrates Gerrit Rietveld’s transition from humble cabinet maker’s son to Architect and leading designer in the De Stijl movement. The book and film compliment each other nicely, covering several different furniture designs both preceding and subsequent to the famed Red Blue Chair, including alternate versions of that particular design (unpainted, arm rest panels, etc.).
AD Classics: Vincent van Gogh Museum / Gerrit Rietveld
The Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh was commissioned in 1963, but not completed until over a decade later. Gerrit Rietveld was originally chosen to spearhead the project, and provided the initial design. Tragically, however, Rietveld died a year after the project began. Rietveld’s colleague on the project, J. van Dillen, took over the commission as a result, sticking closely to Rietveld’s previous sketches. When van Dillen died in 1966, the project was finally left to be finished with a slightly adjusted design by J. van Tricht.
Gerrit Rietveld: Born June 24, 1888
A day like today, 123 years ago, Dutch designer and architect Gerrit Rietveld was born. One of the principal members of the artistic movement “De Stijl” (Dutch for “The Style), Rietveld became famous for his Red and Blue Chair, designed un 1917 (part of the MoMA collection) and for the Rietveld Schröder House.
Designed in 1924 in collaboration with the house owner Truus Schröder-Schräder, the Rietveld Schröder House continues to impress architects and interior designers with its innovative solutions to prominent design questions of its time (see our AD Classics about it).
What is the importance of Rietveld’s work for modern architecture? We invite you to celebrate Rietveld’s birthday by sharing your comments with us!
AD Classics: Rietveld Schroder House / Gerrit Rietveld
Still as visionary and eccentric as it was when it was built in the 1920s, the Schroder House by Gerrit Rietveld continues to impress architects and interior designers with its innovative solutions to prominent design questions of its time.
The flexibility of the interior spaces and the obviously planar quality of the house both give it an edge that makes it distinguishable and unique on every level.
More on the Rietveld Schroder House by Gerrit Rietveld after the break.
Rietveld Pavilion at the Kröller-Müller Sculpture Garden
Architect: Gerrit Rietveld
Location: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands
Project Years: 1955 (Arnhem, the Netherlands), 1965 (Kröller-Müller Museum) and 2010 (rebuilt)
Photographs: Pedro Kok
