The Style
The Rietveld Schröder House was the first – and ultimately the only – house ever to be built on the basis of the architectural principles of ‘De Stijl’. Originally, ‘De Stijl’ was a constructivistically oriented periodical, edited by Theo van Doesburg. For its day, the journal propagated very modern shapes, materials, lines and colours, at times dowsed with an esoteric dressing.
Constructivism can be defined as a style in which consistently enforced mathematical laws and shapes play a major role; the literal meaning of esoterics is ‘secret science’, but it is elevated here to mean ‘for initiates’ or ‘occult’. Others who had affinity for this included Piet Mondriaan, the painter, and architect J.B. van Loghem. ‘De Stijl’ can be considered a direct forerunner and related artistic trend of what is referred to as New Realism or of (international) Functionalism. Rietveld would ultimately join this movement. The Functionalism movement considered the Rietveld Schröder House as an example and reference. The house is considered an ‘icon’ of the Modern Movement and holds a solitary pioneering position.
Constructivism can be defined as a style in which consistently enforced mathematical laws and shapes play a major role; the literal meaning of esoterics is ‘secret science’, but it is elevated here to mean ‘for initiates’ or ‘occult’. Others who had affinity for this included Piet Mondriaan, the painter, and architect J.B. van Loghem. ‘De Stijl’ can be considered a direct forerunner and related artistic trend of what is referred to as New Realism or of (international) Functionalism. Rietveld would ultimately join this movement. The Functionalism movement considered the Rietveld Schröder House as an example and reference. The house is considered an ‘icon’ of the Modern Movement and holds a solitary pioneering position.