Erasmuslaan: functionalist architecture

Erasmuslaan: functionalist architecture

The Rietveld Schröder House is not the only house that Gerrit Rietveld designed in Utrecht. Others include the nearby housing blocks on Erasmuslaan.

The Rietveld Schröder House is not the only house that Gerrit Rietveld designed in Utrecht. Others include the nearby housing blocks on Erasmuslaan.

Truus Schröder played an important role in the construction of the houses on Erasmuslaan as well. For many years, her living room in the Rietveld Schröder House overlooked a sweeping polder landscape. When the land was released for development, she wanted to be certain that what was built there would be aesthetic. So she bought the land herself, and asked Gerrit Rietveld to design and build the houses. A block of four townhouses was completed in 1931, followed by an apartment block in 1934.

Erasmuslaan EXT 2002; foto EM.jpg

The townhouses on Erasmuslaan

Functionalist architecture

Rietveld's designs followed the principles of functionalism, Nieuwe Bouwen in Dutch, a style that was rational and efficient, with none of the hallmarks of De Stijl. In October 1931, Rietveld and Schröder furnished one of the houses to serve as a model home. The Centraal Museum has reconstructed this interior.

The house on the Erasmuslaan is temporarily closed. 

Erasmuslaan Rietveld interior

The model home shortly after opening