Architectural Design Influences for the Schroder House AR21009 Humanities 2.1: Between Thinking and Making, Modern Architecture in Context Shane Patrick Docherty 18/12/2020
This essay will be discussing the architectural theme and artistic influence that the works of Frank Lloyd Wright, Pablo Picasso, and Theo van Doesburg had on developing the De Stijl movement in Holland, and the profound effect it had on the 3 dimensional architectural visualisation of the De Stijl movement through Gerrit Rietveld’s Schroder House (Figure 1), Utrecht, that was designed in 1924. The works that will be discussed and compared to the abstract and planar nature of the Schroder house will include, Frank Lloyd Wrights “Robie House” of 1909, by analysing his application of modular design through his influence of Japanese vernacular architecture and their use of interchangeable rice paper partitioning, and by discussing his planar spacial composition by often presenting a radial composition of spaces around the hearth of the building. We will also be discussing the work “Le Guitariste” (1910) by Pablo Picasso and his immense influence, along with Georges Braque, on the abstraction of art and the Cubist movement that started roughly between the time of 1907 and 1912. We will be looking at his innovative technique of expressing multiple viewpoints of a subject on a single canvas, creating a fragmentated juxtaposition of planes which would soon after inspire the works of the De Stijl movement. Of the De Stijl movement the main contributors that we will be discussing is Theo van Doesburg’s “The Cow” (1917), and a collaborative project between both Theo van Doesburg and Cornelis van Eesteren’s “Maison Particuliere” (1922) which presented a visual architecture that applied the Neo Plastic ideals to a 3 dimensional form.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture applies a level of sensitivity for the family dwellings that he designed for his clients, often taking their needs as a key influence for his designs, and under his experience from being trained by renowned architect Louis Sullivan, Wright understood the opportunity of developing his own architectural style and culture for the mid western states, particularily in the state of Illinois, due to their previous imported nature from other cultures. And Wright accomplished this by allowing the hearth of the building to be the central focus and spacial organiser of his buildings. This acknowledgement of the spacial configurations of Wrights buildings can be seen from his inspiration of Japanese vernacular architecture taken from his visit of the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, where he experienced the swiftness of the construction and deconstruction of the Ho o den Temple (Figure 2) based on its modular design on the Tatami mat and timber frame. Its planar architectural language was also highlighted from the overhanging roofs, as well as the timber frame construction which would later be translated in Wrights’ Robie House of 1909, with Wright abstracting the massing of the planar elements illustrated on the front elevation of the building. The abstract layering of the plinth which gives a Fig. 2: Kuru, Ho o den Temple, Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition, Illinois, USA 1893 Fig. 1: Rietveld, Schroder House, Utrecht, Holland, 1924 1
Shane Docherty
Fig 6: Picasso, Le Guitariste, 1910 2
1 Curtis, William J. R. Modern Architecture since 1900. 3rd Ed. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1995. Pages 125, 157 158
Shane Docherty horizontal directional quality to the building was executed by using “elongated ‘Roman’ bricks laid with deep reveals of shadow in the joints so as to rhythm with the predominant horizontals”1 (Figure 3). This planar arrangement found in the façade, as well as the spacial configuration of the plan of Robie House, can also be found in the interpenetrating planes of Rietvelds Schroder House which is “detailed to give the sense that all part of the building are weightless”1 And although Wright drew inspiration from the Japanese non load bearing rice paper partitions that can be seen in Japanese vernacular, he used this precedent as a means of letting as much light in through the south facing side as possible whilst also eliminating as much visual weight from the inside as possible (Figure 4). Rietveld on the other hand, uses this inspiration as part of his spacial organisation, and states that the “partitions may be removed altogether to give an entirely free plan”1, allowing the building to be adaptable to the users over an extent period of time.
Picasso as well as Georges Braque were founders of the Cubist movement, starting roughly around 1907 who looked at abstracting their artwork instead of the norm of fixed point perspective realism. In which Paul Cezanne was also a contributor to starting the movement of abstracting landscapes of the same fixed view looking over Mont Sainte Victoire (1882 1906) (Figure 5), which can be seen over time as Cezanne distorts the thickness of the brushstrokes, allowing for the viewer to create multiple interpretations of the artwork. And it was this image of creating multiple interpretations that Picasso expanded upon, by combining multiple views of the subject matter on the one canvas, abstracting the idea further by presenting the object or person through fragments of views, which can be seen in this image of Le Guitariste (1910) (Figure 6) depicting a person playing a guitar from multiple views. This abstraction of observed reality demonstrated by the Cubists can be translated as a direct predecessor of the ideals of the De Stijl movement and inherently providing the ideals for Rietvelds’ juxtaposition of the façade of the Schroder House. And this quality that is translated onto the building allows the public to question the function of the building due to its abstraction of the front.
Fig 3: Wright, Façade of Robie House, 1909 Fig 4: Wright, Living Room of Robie House, 1909 Fig 5: Cezanne, Painting series of Mont Sainte Victoire (1882 1906)
The De Stijl movement was closely associated with Neo Plasticism due to involved artist Bart van der Leck and M.H. Schoenmaekers whom established the fundamentals that the art style must follow including “The Restriction of the palette to the primary colours”3 as well as the orthogonal lines that must be included; “the horizonal lines of power…, and the vertical, profoundly spacial movement of ray that originate in the centre of the sun”3.
Theo van Doesburg’s composition of “The Cow” (1917) (Figure 7) illustrates precisely how the artists of the De Stijl movement abstracted reality to the conditions of the movement, and how these exact same principles were demonstrated 10 years later with the Schroder House by Rietveld. This planar architecture that is expressed in the Schroder house can also be demonstrated in the illustrative spacial compositions that were suggested by both Theo van Doesburg and Cornelius van Eesteren in their 1923 project “Maison Particuliere” (Figure 8), which produced a series of axonometric drawings demonstrating an assembly of floating planes constructed around a singular point, which was one of the only visualisations of the Neo Plastic style expressed as a 3D form.
Shane Docherty
To conclude, the architectural theme and elements associated with Gerrit Rietvelds Schroder House, Utrecht (1924) has derived inspiration from the Neo Plastic due to its restrictive colour palette and its orthogonal nature that is depicted in the intersecting of planes, which confidently compares to the work of Theo van Doesburg’s “The Cow” (1917). As well as the earlier representation of abstract art through Picasso’s Cubist movement, and his fragmentated compositional arrangement that can also be 2
Doesburg, Theo van, De Stijl: Vol. 2 No.1, November 1918, Page 4 3 Frampton, Kenneth. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. 3rd Ed. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. Page 143 Fig 7: Doesburg, The Cow, 1917 Fig 8: Doesburg and Eesteren, Maison Particuliere, 1923 Fig 9: Rietveld, Spacial Arrangement of Schroder House, Utrecht, Holland, 1924 3
De Stijl (The Style) movement was in Holland and was pioneered mainly by 2 painters, Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian as well as architect and cabinet maker Gerrit Rietveld and it was a reaction to the devastating effects that the First World War had, which lead to the artists abstracting the reality that they were living in. De Stijl was established in 1917 based on the publication of their first journal, which a year later they had released their second edition and included their 8 point manifesto which solidified the ideas that their movement was surrounding, such ideals being “The old is connected with the individual”2 and “The new is connected with the universal”2 .
Shane Docherty expressed through the arrangement of furnishings as well as the concrete balustrading and floor planes. But the most influential character to Rietveld’s architectural language, as well as Theo van Doesburg’s compositions, is Frank Lloyd Wright as they both “claimed Wright as one of their guiding lights”4. This is most apparent though Rietveld’s Japanese vernacular inspiration of using non load bearing partitioning to allow for an interchangeable ‘free plan’ (Figure 9) that suits the needs of the client, as well as the Schroder House’s abstract massing of the façade, by having these intersecting horizontal and vertical planes, reminiscent of that façade of the Robie House. The integration of art and architecture has never been shown to such a great effect previously with the combination of Cubist Abstraction and the refined palette of the De Stijl movement which expressed a sensibility in the cultural influences of this building. Bibliography 1. Curtis, William J. R. Modern Architecture since 1900. 3rd Ed. London: Phaidon Press Limited, Pages1995.112 129, 149 159 2. Frampton, Kenneth. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. 3rd Ed. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. Page 142 148 3. Doesburg, Theo van, De Stijl: Vol. 2 No.1, November 1918, Page 4 [online] Available https://ubu.at:com/media/text/de stijl pdf/De Stijl Vol 2 no 1 Leiden November 1918.pdf List of Figures Figure 1: Rietveld, Gerrit, 1924, Façade of Schroder House, Utrecht, Holland [online] Available https://www.dezeen.com/2018/08/29/stijnat: poelstra photographs mondrian rietveld schroder house architecture/ Figure 2: Kuru, Masamichi, 1893, Ho o den Temple, Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, USA [online]Availablehttps://coat:mmons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Japanese_pavillion_Ho o den_01,_World%27s_Columbian_Exposition_1893.jpg Figure 3: Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1909, Façade of Robie House, Illinois, USA [online] 4 Curtis, William J. R. Modern Architecture since 1900. 3rd Ed. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1995. Page 153 4
Shane Docherty Available https://www.architectmagazine.com/projectat: gallery/frederick c robie house restoration_o Figure 4: Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1909, Living Room of Robie House, Illinois, USA [online] Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/frank lloyd wrights robie house where family life met tragedy 1452803482 Figure 5: Cezanne, Paul, 1882 1906, Painting series of Mont Sainte Victoire, France [online] Available https://www.theartwolf.com/landscapes/cezanneat: montagne sainte victoire.htm Figure 6: Picasso, Pablo, 1910, Le Guitariste [online] Available https://www.centrepompidou.fr/fr/ressources/oeuvre/6MkE4Hqat: Figure 7: Doesburg, Theo van, 1917, The Cow [online] Available https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/428827195745051697/at: Figure 8: Doesburg, Theo van and Eesteren, Cornelius van, 1923, Maison Particuliere [online] Available https://mediuat:m.com/designscience/1922 aaaa128a692 Figure 9: Rietveld, Gerrit, Spacial Arrangement of First Floor of Schroder House, Utrecht, Holland [online] Available https://www.dezeen.com/2018/08/29/stijnat: poelstra photographs mondrian rietveld schroder house architecture/ 5