Architect and furniture designer · Netherlands · 1888-1964
Gerrit Rietveld Biography, Buildings and Best Books
Dutch furniture designer and architect (1888-1964) of the De Stijl movement, creator of the Red and Blue Chair and the Schröder House in Utrecht.
Photo: Oscar, Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) was a Dutch furniture designer and architect and the leading architect of the De Stijl movement. Trained as a cabinetmaker, he designed the Red and Blue Chair, a manifesto of planes and lines in primary colours, and in 1924 built the Schröder House in Utrecht with Truus Schröder-Schräder, a house of sliding walls and coloured planes that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The cabinetmaker
Rietveld was born in Utrecht in 1888 and worked from the age of eleven in his father’s furniture workshop. He took evening classes in drawing and architecture and opened his own workshop in 1917. His slatted armchair of that year, later painted red and blue, brought him into contact with the De Stijl group around Theo van Doesburg, which he joined in 1919.
The Schröder House
In 1924 he designed a house at the end of a row in Utrecht for the widow Truus Schröder-Schräder. Built of rendered brick, steel and glass, it opens its upper floor into one space that can be divided by sliding partitions, with balconies and planes that seem to slide past each other. Rietveld kept his studio there for many years.
Housing, chairs and pavilions
In the 1930s Rietveld turned to functionalism, building terrace houses in Utrecht and designing the Zig-Zag chair (1934) and crate furniture for Metz & Co. After the war he built the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1954), the sculpture pavilion at Sonsbeek (1955), now rebuilt at the Kröller-Müller Museum, and many schools and houses.
Legacy
Rietveld died in Utrecht in 1964. His design for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was completed by his partners in 1973. The Centraal Museum in Utrecht holds his archive and manages the Schröder House.
Gerrit Rietveld
Written by the former curator of the Rietveld collection at the Centraal Museum, it covers his furniture and buildings with archive drawings and photographs.
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Timeline
- 1888Born on 24 June in Utrecht.
- 1917Opens his own furniture workshop in Utrecht.
- 1918Designs the slatted armchair later known as the Red and Blue Chair.
- 1919Joins the De Stijl movement.
- 1924Schröder House is completed in Utrecht.
- 1934Designs the Zig-Zag chair.
- 1954Builds the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
- 1964Dies on 25 June in Utrecht.
- 1973Van Gogh Museum, based on his design, opens in Amsterdam.
Best Books on Gerrit Rietveld
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Gerrit Rietveld known for?
Gerrit Rietveld is known for the Red and Blue Chair, the Zig-Zag chair and the Schröder House in Utrecht, the key building of the De Stijl movement.
What is the Schröder House?
A house in Utrecht designed in 1924 by Rietveld with its owner Truus Schröder-Schräder. Its open upper floor can be divided by sliding walls, and its planes and lines in primary colours express De Stijl ideas. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What is De Stijl?
A Dutch art and design movement founded in 1917 around Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian, based on straight lines, rectangles and primary colours. Rietveld was its leading architect and furniture designer.
What is the best book on Gerrit Rietveld?
Gerrit Rietveld by Ida van Zijl (Phaidon, 2016), produced with the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, covers his furniture and architecture.
Did Rietveld design the Van Gogh Museum?
Yes. Rietveld designed the main building of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which was completed after his death and opened in 1973.
