Last weekend I visited what is probably the most famous house in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the Rietveld Schröderhuis (Rietveld Schröder House). For many years I passed this house on my way to the university library. Now I finally have the change of taking a peek inside this unique house. It is famous for its peculiar exterior, a creation by the famous architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld. Since 2000 the house has conquered a place on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Time to take a better look and admire not only the exterior, but also the interior of the house, which is quite unique too.

Photo Ernst Moritz 2009

Origin of an extraordinary house
Interior designer Truus Schröder gave Gerrit Rietveld the assignment to build her an open, sober and light house. Her husband had passed away and she was looking for a new place to live with her three children. She had hired Rietveld before and they had common ideas about living, furniture and architecture.
Schröder wanted the most important rooms, like the bedrooms and the dining room, to be on the second floor. The house had to be modest and too large. Last, but definitely not least, the house was to be a place where you would live actively. Both Schröder and Rietveld saw living as a conscious act. It was the same principle which Rietveld used for his furniture. Some people criticized him and his designs, because they felt his chairs were not very comfortable to sit in. In such cases Rietveld replied with the following smart phrase: “Zitten is een werkwoord” (sitting is a verb). Rietveld was interested in simplicity, sobriety and transparency. He did not want to make heavy, big furniture but light and open pieces. Schröder shared his views and together they set out to build a house according to these principles. They found an empty strip of land at what was then the edge of Utrecht and in 1924 the construction of the house began.

Museum on slippers
Before you can enter the house you need to visit the ticket office at the other side of the viaduct. There they give you an audio tour of one hour (available in English, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and naturally in Dutch) and a pair of slippers to put on inside the house.
The tour is very instructive. It starts outside the house and tells something about the surroundings and the building material. Next you enter the house, after you've put on your slippers, and the audio tour guides you through each room. It points out every special detail or extraordinary piece of furniture.
The first floor is divided in a more traditional way. You enter a hall, which leads to a kitchen, a study, a toilet, the maids room and the stairs to the second floor. The second floor however is more special. The construction plans described it as an attic. This way Rietveld and Schröder could design it exactly to their liking.

Besides the audio tour there is an actual guide inside the house to answer your questions and make sure no one is tempted to try the famous red and blue chair and feel if sitting really is a verb. After a while the guide calls all the visitors upstairs and asks them to pause their tour for a minute. Everyone gathers in what seems a dining room at first. Then the guide starts to slide back the walls. Rails are attached on the floor and on the ceiling. This way the walls can be shortened and even disappear entirely. In the end a big room is created. Instead of a dining room, a hallway and three bedrooms, one big space arises, which is very light and open. It's wonderful to experience how by sliding back some walls a completely different place can be composed in just a few minutes.

First floor Rietveld Schröder House, designed by Gerrit Th. Rietveld, 1924
The Rietveld Schröder House is part of the Centraal Museum, Utrecht
Photo & copyright: Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Secret cupboards and clever tricks
Not only is the audio tour very informative, it also helps you discover all the secrets and clever solutions that can be found throughout the house and in every room. Besides the sliding walls upstairs, there are closets hidden from sight by moveable panels, a hatchet through which you can pass the groceries from outside straight into the kitchen, a mailbox made out of glass so you can see immediately if the postman has stopped by, a bed which can be turned into a couch and so on and so forth. It is really amazing and shows an inventiveness which is unheard of.

Aside from all the clever tricks you can admire the wonderful pieces of furniture designed by Rietveld. His most famous chair, the red and blue one, is placed upstairs. But also his zigzag chair, several tables and lamps are to be admired inside the house. It is really nice to see them all together in a home that is made for them. The principals of De Stijl (more details about this movement in the next paragraph) are to be found in every aspect of the building. The exterior, the interior, the colors and materials used, the shapes and division of the rooms. That is why every piece of furniture fits perfectly. There is a great sense of harmony and that makes it a beautiful and peaceful home. There are some pictures of how the house looked when Schröder and her family were living there. The surroundings are wide and empty, nothing but fields and trees, where are roads and buildings now. On the edge of that green strip the Rietveld Schröder House was build. A light and open building, with many windows and bright colors. I can imagine that it was exactly the soberness and simplicity Schröder was looking for.

Stairs Rietveld Schröder House, designed by Gerrit Th. Rietveld, 1924
The Rietveld Schröder House is part of the Centraal Museum, Utrecht
Photo & copyright: Centraal Museum, Utrecht

De Stijl – a little background
For a while Rietveld was part of the Dutch art movement, De Stijl (The Style). In 1917 a magazine which bore the same name was founded. Theo van Doesburg was an important force behind the magazine, though he took the movement not quite as serious as Piet Mondriaan did. The famous Dutch painter followed the principals strictly and can be considered as the most consistent member of the group. Van Doesburg wrote many pieces for the magazine, but he was more pragmatic and less rigid.

The artists involved with De Stijl were seeking a purification of art. They saw themselves and their movement as the endpoint of art. After this there would be no need left for any other art form. They wanted to create an universal harmony. This would extend beyond the borders of art into the every day live. That is why De Stijl would be the last style ever.

To achieve this purification the members used horizontal and vertical lines in their art, but no round forms or diagonals. The only colors used were black, white and gray, plus the primary colors, red, yellow and blue. The artists strived for simplicity and soberness.
Rietveld was influenced by the ideas of the group. He applied them to his designs and furniture. He tried to create an orderly beauty with no emotion involved. The house he build for Schröder is considered an important example of architecture in accordance with the rules of De Stijl.

That is one reason to go and visit the Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht. The other is, that it is just a beautiful house and a very inspiring environment. If you have time and you can't get enough of Rietvelds designs, you can visit the Centraal Museum the same day with the ticket you bought for the house. The museum has several pieces of his furniture on display. That way you can enjoy his work a little longer if you like.