This is the Rietveld Schröder House.
Designed in 1924. Occupied until 1985. Architectural highlight of De Stijl and icon in the city of Utrecht.
Truus Schröder
In 1924, Truus Schröder asked renowned Utrecht-based furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld if he would like to design her new home. The recently widowed mother of three wants a house that is fully attuned to her – and to her unconventional ideas about what a home should be. Having worked with Rietveld in the past, she knew his disdain for tradition. It was a match made in heaven.
Schröder played an important role in the design process. She knew exactly what she wanted: simplicity and a space that freed rather than constrained her.
Gerrit Rietveld
Until then, Rietveld had created mainly furniture and scale models. His renowned Red and Blue Chair, for example, was designed around 1919. Never before had he been asked to design an entire house.
For Rietveld, Schröder's project was a dream come true. Together, they pulled out all the stops, trying out new ideas in keeping with De Stijl.
The Style
De Stijl is an art movement named after the contemporary art magazine of the same name, founded in 1917. Rietveld is an important member of the art movement. Later, Schröder also joined as "principle employee" of De Stijl movement as the only woman.
The entire Rietveld Schröder House exudes De Stijl.
The design is characterised by fluid transitions between inside and outside, the clean horizontal and vertical lines and the use of all primary colours, alongside white, grey and black.
Smart solutions
Rietveld and Schröder's idea of an ideal house was spacious, simple and functional. They came up with all kinds of clever solutions to achieve this.
Like the sliding walls on the first floor. By day, this was an open space, but in the evening, the Schröder family could split it up into three separate rooms. There was one room for the daughters, another for the son, and a living room with a table and stove, giving everyone some privacy.
Corner window
Another clever idea: the iconic corner window on the upper floor. Both the large window and the small one perpendicular to it swing open, dissolving the corner and making you feel like you are outside.
The stairs
The stairs to the top are hidden behind a sliding door. For example, Rietveld and Schröder create a quiet place to talk on the phone in the hall and shut out the cold.
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Peace and safety
They also come up with wooden panels to darken the windows. These create peace and safety in the home.
Three dimensions
Rietveld and Schröder want to make optimal use of the space in and around the house. Everywhere, they process the three dimensions: height, width and depth. Just take a good look at this lamp by Rietveld.
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Do you also see the three dimensions in the famous Red and Blue Chair?
This chair has become a symbol of De Stijl and is the epitome of functionality, consisting of only 15 beechwood slats and 2 rectangular panels.
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Even in the lines of the façade, you can see the three dimensions.
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Polder view
The Rietveld Schröder House is located on the Prins Hendriklaan in Utrecht. Back in 1924, it was on the outskirts of the city. Quite literally so, because it looked out on nothing but a vast polder landscape on one side. This beautiful view played a pivotal part in the design.
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In fact, the view from the house was so important to Truus Schröder that, when the land opposite was released for development in the early 1930s, she bought it right away. She did not want to take any chances on what she saw from her window. Rietveld and Schröder designed two residential blocks to occupy what would later become Erasmuslaan. When a four-lane motorway and viaduct were built across the front lawn in the 1960s, Rietveld said the house might just as well be torn down, since what linked the interior and exterior had been destroyed.
Everyday life
Truus Schröder lived in the house from 1925 until her death in 1985. Initially with her three children, later with Gerrit Rietveld.
Her favourite spot in the house was the first floor, where she had the best view of the polder landscape and felt as if a weight had been lifted from her. Because she spent so much time there, Rietveld installed a speaking tube that let her talk to visitors at the door without going downstairs.
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Rietveld remains involved with his home. He even gets his own studio downstairs, where he works on new designs. When his wife dies in 1957, Rietveld moved in with Schröder. He lived there until his death in 1964.
Rietveld Schröder House Foundation
At her death, Truus Schröder left the management of the house to the Rietveld Schröder House Foundation and the Centraal Museum.
To this day, visitors from every corner of the globe can continue to enjoy this seminal work of art.