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    11/24/2006

    Rietveld Schröder House

    The Rietveld Schröder House is a world famous monument of 20th-century architecture. In 2000 Unesco added it to its World Heritage List. Utrecht architect and designer Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1888 – 1964) build the house in 1924. Mrs. Truus Schröder-Schräder lived in it from this year until her death in 1984.

    STIJL COLORS
    The house was built in accordance with the architectural principles of De Stijl movement. Rietveld used the typical Stijl colors: red, blue and yellow, combined with white, gray and black. He and Mrs. Schröder also designed the interior and the furniture. All in the same color scheme. Until 1933 Rietveld had a studio in the house and he lived in here in the final six years of his life.

    SLIDING WALLS
    The house was to be a showcase of ultra-modern design. To achieve this, common architectural standards were disregarded. Mrs. Schröder, for example, preferred to live on the first floor in a flexible area. This is why the various rooms, with the exception of the bathroom and the staircase, are separated from each other by loose sliding walls. This enabled her to change the layout of this floor in accordance with her wishes.

    CENTRAL MUSEUM
    The Rietveld Schröder house is a part of the Central Museum in Utrecht. This museum also manages the sizable Rietveld collection. A visit to the Rietveld Schröder House takes approximately one hour. You will enjoy a guided tour of the house and see a video on Rietveld in the information center.