TIMELINE: A VIEW INTO THE WORLD OF THE RIETVELD-SCHRODER HOUSE

We hope that the above timeline* will help clarify the context of the time during which the Rietveld-Schroder House was built. The First World War is arguably the most important date on the timeline as it marks the rise, fall, and creation of important events, and movements. Prior to the First World War, most people were preoccupied with maintaining "order" and "structure" within art, architecture, and life. The advent of the Great War however led to the changing of many these attitudes; the fall in prominence of Art Nouveau and the rise of avant-garde movements such as De Stijl, Dutch Rationalism, the Amsterdam School, the Bauhaus, Dada and Russian Constructivism are clear signs of that. It's good to note that the creation of many of these movements listed above happened during the First World War in neutral countries such as the Netherlands and Switzerland; these areas became the bastions of art life, replacing the war-ridden Paris. The First World War also marked the change in the political and economic sphere as free markets reigned supreme during the Roaring Twenties, the call for new types of government ensued, and women were able to gain universal suffrage (attained in Netherlands in 1919). Architecturally, the work and ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright was permeating throughout Europe, taking root in the minds of many younger architects especially in the De Stijl movement. Wright's bold use of concrete, cantilevers, and horizontal and vertical planes that intersected were interesting innovations in construction. Such elements are found in the Rietveld-Schroder house. In France, we see the rise of Cubism (a major influence on Piet Mondrian) in Paris in the early 1900s, and in the late twenties, the rise of Le Corbusier and the creation of CIAM - a herald of the modernist movement in architecture.


*Due to limitations on image sizes in Blogger, it's difficult to read the words written, and as such we have hosted a the larger image here.