Gerrit Rietveld (Chart Designer2)

He was born in 1885 and died in 1965 in Wrecht, Netherlands. This Dutch architect and furniture designer was on of the principal members of the Dutch movement De Stijl (the style).

In 1904 to 1908, he attended evening classes for drawing and also the study of Ornamentation in Utrecht.

In 1906 he attended classes by architect PJC Klaarhamer. This tutor was of great importance to Rietveld's future, because through these classes he learnt about recent national and international trends in applied arts and also architecture. 

-The Red and Blue chair was initially developed without its vivid colours in  1918. The coloured version was designed in 1923. Every piece of this chair is either shaped as a square or a rectangle. This is highlighted by the use of a bright yellow in every piece's end. 

The spine of the chair was produced in red and all its "limbs" are connected to each other; the blue sloping back seat and black arms and legs. 

Rietveld chose aesthetics over functionalism. The design's raw state that stripped back to basic structural form was genius and looked good, however it was not comfortable at all. 

His geometric ordering of spcace was influenced by Piet Mondarin's cubist work, and the use of rectilinear design from Frank Lloyd Wright.

When I look at this chair, I remember Marcel Breuer's Lattenstuhl, designed in 1926. It has the same cubist wand rectilinear design. 

Marcel Breuer's Lattenstuhl, 1926

Another recognized piece of Rietveld is the Zig Zag chair designed in 1934. It's made up of only 4 elements. The chair is joined with dovetail joints, brass nuts and bolts through the corner block that are in a triangular form. It has an extremely complex design and shape. On the other hand, its visual effect is pretty simple and occupies little space. It fits in the modernist and De Stijl design principles.

Gerrit Rietveld was a revolutionist, and one of the most important designers and architects of the 20th century.

Gerrit Rietveld Revolution of Spave.Available: http://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailseiten/detailseiten/gerrit-rietveld.html. Last accessed 22nd january 2014.

Lattenstuhl. Available: http://www.architonic.com/dcsht/lattenstuhl-model-ti-1a-phillips-de-pury-company/4104512. Last accessed 22nd january 2014.