Gerrit Rietveld, Slegers house, Velp, the Netherlands, from the year of 1954. (view in a google)

Slegers house was built in 1954-1955 by order of artist Piet Slegers and his wife Gerda. Their new home was bright and sunny. The modest villa is built in brick and glass with wooden frames and consists of three parts. The layout is a wonderful example of the design talent of Rietveld, which has dealt with highly effective space. An almost square volume under a rising pent contains the studio ( in the north), the kitchen and the living room (south ). Entrance hall and basement stairs are housed in a lower intermediate portion. On the west side is a rectangular volume under a flat roof with three bedrooms and a bathroom. Rietveld made in the design of the house using a subtle game with open and closed surfaces, contrasting colors and straight and angled shapes. Thus, the workshop open glass windows, but also closed facades are constructed as black masonry brick walls. This creates a strong visual contrast with the rest of the house, located on the south side with a glass wall opening onto the garden. A recessed black plinth elevates the white painted bedroom wing visually making it seem to escape gravity. In the house there are several places skylights and vistas applied with great spatial effect. Thus, the light playing in the living room, the kitchen and the hallway. The interior includes recommended by Rietveld colors and designed by him fixed furniture has hardly changed since 1955, even the kitchen , the kitchen designed by Rietveld. Evidence that the design of Rietveld in perfect keeping with the wishes of his clients, who still live in the house.

links :

• http://www.hendrickdekeyser.nl/panddetail/415/huis_slegers.html

Reviewed by Estève P.