De Stijl

De Stijl was a Dutch movement concurrent with Constructivism and Bauhaus which started roughly in 1917 in Holland. Theo Van Doesberg is the main founder of the De Stijl movement together with other artist members and architects such as Piet Mondrian. It was the time when World War 1 was coming to its end and this style sought to bring order again in society especially in the aspects of design. It lacks decoration and is a reaction against Art Deco.

Of all the inspirations which contributed to this movement, one can mention Cubism, Dada and Suprematism. De Stijl is also a contributor of the International Style which can be very felt in the aspects of architecture mentioning the use of black and white, pure shapes, flat colours and geometric lines. In fact, the main characteristics of De Stijl endorse the use of primary colours (red, yellow and blue) black and white and constant geometric forms. It did not only affect art and design but also left an impact on typography, industry and also architecture. One of the main aims in this movement was to combine form and function and this can be seen in many furniture designs which were manufactured at that time.

We can mention the 1917, Red and Blue Chair by a Dutch designer Gerrit Rietveld which is a clear example of De Stijl furniture design. It is made out of beech wood and rectangular prisms. It consists of two arm rests which does not look very comfortable. In fact, the chair is hard to sit on due to the fact that the material used is just wood which is a stiff material. The chair is a clearly inspired from the paintings of Piet Mondrian which reflect dynamism created by the strong bold lines. In 1923, the chair was lacquered with matt black, red and blue for its major surfaces and yellow for its minor surfaces.

Red and Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld

There is another chair by Marcel Breuer named the Model B3 made in 1926. This chair was also later manufactured by Thonet and given the name of the Wassily chair related to Wassily Kandinsky who was a lecturer at the Bauhaus. It is made out of black canvas and tubular steel which was gaining popularity and that time. It was being mass produced and made available for mass production. It was inspired by Adles Bicycles and Mart Stam and from the Bauhaus.

Model B3 by Marcel Breuer

If we can compare and contrast the two, Rietveld’s chair is much less comfortable than the one of Breuer since the materials used are different and also the style. Tubular steel is bent while wood is just cut, joined and painted. Similarly, the use of black is a common tangent between the two and this reflects the fact that Bauhaus and De Stijl collided at some point with mutual ideas and influences.

The impact of De Stijl is still being felt in today’s design and architecture. A witness of this is the Schroder house by Gerrit Rietveld, built in 1924. Some restorations were made in the 1980’s so as to preserve the original furniture of this valuable historical icon.

Reference


Fiell, C. and Fiell, P. (1999). Design of the 20th century. Ko¨ln: Taschen.


Financial times, 2015. Design classic: the Red-Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld.  [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/81122958-3a3f-11e3-9243-00144feab7de.html.> [Accessed 23 January 2015].

Pinterest, 2015. Furniture | Red Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld [ONLINE] Available at: <https://www.pinterest.com/jakubsochor7/furniture-red-blue-chair-by-gerrit-rietveld/.>  [Accessed 23 January 2015].

UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2015. Rietveld Schröderhuis (Rietveld Schröder House). [ONLINE] Available at:< http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/965.> [Accessed 23 January 2015].