Gerrit Rietveld

From his first great design masterpiece, the Red-Blue Chair, to his final design for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Gerrit Rietveld created a significant body of work and left a remarkable legacy. His simple yet dynamic design style has greatly affected international furniture design and has made a significant contribution to the history of architecture. His unconventional approach and extraordinary furniture, hailed by Theo van Doesburg as ´the new sculpture´, inspired many of his contemporaries just as it continues to inspire today´s designers; he has been cited as a source of inspiration by designers ranging from Verner Panton to Konstantin Grcic. This detailed yet accessible monograph is structured chronologically and richly illustrated with photographs and sketches of Reitveld´s furniture design and his twenty-odd architectural projects. Following Rietveld from his humble beginnings as a cabinet-maker to his final years as a world-renowned architect, this book will present both his lesser-known work and his most celebrated, such as "The Zigzag Chair" of 1934. One chapter focuses exclusively on the Schroder House of 1924, which is among the very few twentieth-century buildings to be accorded UNESCO World Heritage Monument status. Produced in collaboration with the Centraal Museum, which holds the world´s largest collection of Rietveld´s work, this book includes a number of never-before-published images of Rietveld´s work and his life. Author Ida van Zijl, who is the Deputy Director of the Centraal Museum and who has organized a variety of exhibitions that have included Rietveld, gives a thorough, accessible account of Rietveld´s life and his work. She also explores his significance in the wider context of avante-garde movements, such as his influence within De Stijl and Functionalism, and well as the lesser-known but equally interesting work he produced with an eye towards mass housing and industrial production. Designed by Wim Crowel, the best-known Dutch graphic designer, the book provides a rich mixture of beautiful images and a fascinating story. Most crucially, this book will give Rietveld the attention he has long deserved as a designer and architect, presenting a comprehensive coverage of his output and a full analysis of his achievements.