Rietveld Schröder House

The Rietveld Schröder House (Nederlands. Rietveld Schröderhuis) (also known as the Schröder House) in Utrecht was built in 1924 by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld for Mrs. Truus Schröder-Schräder and her three children. She commissioned the house to be designed preferably without walls. The house is one of the best known examples of De Stijl-architecture and arguably the only true De Stijl building. Mrs. Schröder lived in the house until her death in 1985. The house was restored by Bertus Mulder and now is a museum open for visits. In the year 2000 it was placed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Architecture

The Rietveld Schröder House constitutes both inside and outside a radical break with all architecture before it. The two-story house is built onto the end of a terrace, but it makes no attempt to relate to its neighbouring buildings.

Inside there is no static accumulation of rooms, but a dynamic, changeable open zone. The ground floor can still be termed traditional; ranged around a central staircase are kitchen and three sit/bedrooms. The living area upstairs, given as an attic to satisfy the planning authorities, in fact forms a large open zone except for a separate toilet and a bathroom. Rietveld wanted to leave the upper level as was. Mrs Schröder, however, felt that as living space it should be usable in either form, open or subdivided. This was achieved with a system of sliding and revolving panels. When entirely partitioned in, the living level comprises three bedrooms, bathroom and living room. In-between this and the open state is a wide variety of possible permutations, each providing its own spatial experience.

The facades are a collage of planes and lines whose components are purposely detached from, and seem to glide past, one another. This enabled the provision of several balconies. Like Rietveld's Red and Blue Chair, each component has its own form, position and color. Colors where chosen as to strengthen the plasticity of the facades; surfaces in white and shades of grey, black window and doorframes, and a number of linear elements in primary colors.

The house is situated in Utrecht in between ordinary terraced houses and along a motorway that was built in the 1960s.

World Heritage Site

The World Heritage Committee inscribed the Rietveld Schröder House on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites on 2 December 2000, during the 24th session in Cairns, Australia. The committee decided to apply criterion i and ii, and said about the house: Шаблон:Quote

References

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External links

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Tom Harle
19 August 2015
It's easy to book in advance online and highly recommended - someone from the museum follows you around the house while you take an audio tour, and shows you all the furniture and moving walls.
Kelly
16 August 2014
Just enough wall;the rest is glass! Impressive that the idea is going 2 centuries back! Basic structures for te most multifunctional n full of light place I ve ever been. Definitely worth a visit!!!
Aleksandra Dudek
5 August 2018
Very coherent piece of architecture. No doubt it is Utrecht must see! Not only for designers but also for everyone who is aware the right living conditions.
Adrián Moreno
14 August 2014
Wonderful house, it has an amazing use of every space. Tickets are purchased on advance on the Centraal Museum, and the house is definitely worth the visit and the ticket.
Kars Alfrink
30 October 2017
Iconic bit of architecture in what is otherwise a residential neighbourhood with not a whole lot going on. Probably a must see if you're visiting town from abroad.
Jon Eshuijs
9 August 2012
This small family house, was a manifesto of the ideals of the De Stijl architects in the Netherlands in the 1920s and has since been considered one of the icons of the Modern Movement in architecture.
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