Mrs Schroder was an affluent middle aged widow, with three children, who was looking for a house in which she could settle down and possibly even live the rest of her life. She recognised Rietveld as a fine architect, and was particulary impressed with his work in response to the current De Stijl art movement, fronted by Piet Mondrian. Below is an example of Mondrian's work, all very linear and using mainly primary colours. The De Stijl art movement was described as trying to find the "utopian idea of spiritual harmony and order", which was very much what Mrs Schroder was searching for in her house.
To maintain these principles, Rietveld kept the house very open plan, especially the upstairs which is made up almost entirely of sliding partions. We began by drawing elevations, plans and sections of the house, and from these, creating a 1:50 scale model.
I also drew out a 3-D representation of the house in my sketchbook, so I could form an idea of how the elevations fitted together. The volumetric model was next on the list of things to do, so Ed went down to the work shop, and constructed the spaces which made up each room, out of wood, and colour coded them in co-ordination with the rest of the members of our group as a method of comparison.
After the volumetric model, we started upon the detailed model, which was to prove the most stressful and complicated of the models. Ed and me each took one floor, the ground floor for Ed and the first floor for me, respectively, and spent several days constructing an accurate 1:50 scale model of the house, including, balconies, windows, doorways, units and the stairway.
The site model was probably the most useful of the models as it really put the house into perspective with it's surroundings and made up realise how outrageous yet fantastic Rietveld's idea was. The way that the very linear, white coloured Schroder House works with the dull, terraced buildings next to it, is really quite something, whether or not you think it works.
Another extremely difficult part of this project was to get our heads around the ridiculously complicated stairs, which seem completely out of place in an otherwise relatively spacially simple house. I made the following stair set, and also made another version of the top floor, showing what the house can look like when all the sliding partions are closed, which really puts the complexity than can be achieved in perspective.
For our presentation, we decided to display the four houses in our tutor group as a set, so that comparisions could be drawn. Fergus drew out the 8 elements drawings, showing the very basic make up of each building, and then the sheets below showed detailed plans, sections and elevations. The shelves at the side each displayed a site model and the volumetric model.
I thoroughly enjoted this project, especially investigating into the background of the client to find out why certain aspects were chosen for the house. It also helped us bond even more now as a group, which is an invaluable skill. It was also the first time that our model making skills were put to the test, there were several times in the studio when I sat down to make a model and didn't get up again for several hours as I was so immersed in it, especially in making the detail model. We also gained valuable insight into the other houses in our group, and could draw comparision, such as the sliding panels in our house inspired the sliding paritions in the Nine Square Grid House.
To maintain these principles, Rietveld kept the house very open plan, especially the upstairs which is made up almost entirely of sliding partions. We began by drawing elevations, plans and sections of the house, and from these, creating a 1:50 scale model.
I also drew out a 3-D representation of the house in my sketchbook, so I could form an idea of how the elevations fitted together. The volumetric model was next on the list of things to do, so Ed went down to the work shop, and constructed the spaces which made up each room, out of wood, and colour coded them in co-ordination with the rest of the members of our group as a method of comparison.
After the volumetric model, we started upon the detailed model, which was to prove the most stressful and complicated of the models. Ed and me each took one floor, the ground floor for Ed and the first floor for me, respectively, and spent several days constructing an accurate 1:50 scale model of the house, including, balconies, windows, doorways, units and the stairway.
The site model was probably the most useful of the models as it really put the house into perspective with it's surroundings and made up realise how outrageous yet fantastic Rietveld's idea was. The way that the very linear, white coloured Schroder House works with the dull, terraced buildings next to it, is really quite something, whether or not you think it works.
Another extremely difficult part of this project was to get our heads around the ridiculously complicated stairs, which seem completely out of place in an otherwise relatively spacially simple house. I made the following stair set, and also made another version of the top floor, showing what the house can look like when all the sliding partions are closed, which really puts the complexity than can be achieved in perspective.
For our presentation, we decided to display the four houses in our tutor group as a set, so that comparisions could be drawn. Fergus drew out the 8 elements drawings, showing the very basic make up of each building, and then the sheets below showed detailed plans, sections and elevations. The shelves at the side each displayed a site model and the volumetric model.
I thoroughly enjoted this project, especially investigating into the background of the client to find out why certain aspects were chosen for the house. It also helped us bond even more now as a group, which is an invaluable skill. It was also the first time that our model making skills were put to the test, there were several times in the studio when I sat down to make a model and didn't get up again for several hours as I was so immersed in it, especially in making the detail model. We also gained valuable insight into the other houses in our group, and could draw comparision, such as the sliding panels in our house inspired the sliding paritions in the Nine Square Grid House.
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