GERRIT RIETVELD

KONSTANTIN MELNIKOV
GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

Gerrit Rietveld
Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was
aDutchfurnituredesignerand
architect.
Rietveld designed his famousRed and
Blue Chairin 1917.
In 1918, he started his own furniture
factory, and changed the chair's
colours after becoming influenced by
the 'De Stijl' movement, of which he
became a member in 1919, the same
year in which he became an architect
He designed his first building,
theRietveld Schrder House, in 1924,
close
with the
GERRIT in
RIETVELD
ANDcollaboration
KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

The red and blue chair

The original chair was constructed
of unstained beech wood and was
not painted until the early 1920s.
Fellow member of De Stijl and
architect,Bart van der Leck, saw
his original model and suggested
that he add bright colours.
He built the new model of thinner
wood and painted it entirely black
with areas of primary colors
attributed to De Stijl movement.
The effect of this color scheme
made the chair seem to almost
disappear against the black walls
and floor of theSchrder
housewhere it was later placed.
GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

Schrder house
The Rietveld Schrder House
constitutes both inside and outside a
radical break with
allarchitecturebefore it.
Inside there is no static accumulation
of rooms, but a dynamic, changeable
open zone. The ground floor can still
be termed traditional; ranged around
a central staircase are kitchen and
three sit/bedrooms.
Mrs Schrder felt that as living space
upper floor should be usable in
either form, open or subdivided. This
was achieved with a system of
sliding and revolving panels.

GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

Row Houses at
Utrecht

The four houses of the three-storey

row houses broaden to form a
small square.
With their precise north-south
orientation and light-yellow
faades, his four houses all feature
a projecting entrance hall with
sideways access.
On the left of the hall is the
kitchen, on the right a staircase
ensuring efficient communication
with the rest of the house.
Straight on is the large living room,
which occupies the full breadth of
the building

GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

The Dutch Pavilion

In 1953, the Dutch government

decides to bring down the 1912
pavilion by Ferdinand Boberg and
puts Gerrit Thomas Rietveld in
charge of designing the new Dutch
pavilion.
The new pavilion has a simple square
plan and few interior walls, all
orthogonal to the exterior ones.
The building contains volumes of
different heights in order to get light
from above.

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

The Sculpture
Pavilion

This modernist open structure was

designed for the exhibition of small
sculptures.
It has the qualities of De Stijl
architecture.
Around a central space Rietveld
arranged three corridor-like open
galleries.
The materials of the construction
are clearly evident: concrete block
brick, glass, and metal beams.
The open structure suggests a
relationship between nature and
the built environment.

GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

The Van Gogh

Museum

The main building, designed by

Gerrit Rietveld, opened in 1973.
Architect Kisho Kurokawas exhibition
wing was completed in 1999.
Rietvelds modernist vision stressed
geometric shapes and light, open
spaces.
This is particularly evident in the
staircase in the central hall, where
the daylight streams into the
museum galleries through a high
skylight.

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

Konstantin Melnikov
Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikovwas a
Russianarchitectandpainter. His
architectural work, compressed into a single
decade (19231933), placed Melnikov on the
front end of 1920savant-gardearchitecture.
Although associated with theConstructivists,
Melnikov was an independent, not bound by
the rules of a particularor artistic group.
In 1930s, Melnikov refused to conform with
the risingstalinist architecture, withdrew
from practice and worked as aportrait
painterand teacher until the end of his life.
GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

Melnikov House
The Melnikov House by architect
Konstantin Melnikov is a classic
residence that represents the
forefront of the 1920s Russian avantgarde.
Its aesthetics differ dramatically from
traditional Soviet residential
architecture.
The concept evolved from his
schematic draft for the Zuev Workers
Club. It features two interlocking
cylindrical volumes standing three
stories high.
Reasoning for the cylindrical shape
was founded in his belief that they
provided for an economy of material.

GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

USSR Pavilion

Melnikov aspired to something of

the impact of a poster, with its
vigorous colours, decorative lettering
and emblems.
Simple volume of the pavilion's
rectangular plan was split by
diagonal staircases.
The staircase was decoratively
shaded above by awnings, though
not enclosed in the normal sense,
which soared like wings.
Its daring dynamics, the frank
simplicity of its materials and the
lightness of the pavilion, stood in
contrast of neighbouring pavilions.

GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Rusakov Workers
Club

The Club in Moscow is a notable

example of Constructivist
architecture.
The club is built on a fan-shaped
plan, with three cantilevered
concrete seating areas rising above
the base. Each of these volumes can
be used as a separate auditorium.
The only visible materials used in its
construction are concrete, brick and
glass.
The function of the building is to
some extent expressed in the
exterior, which Melnikov described as
a tensed muscle.

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

Kauchuk Factory
Club

The Kauchuk club is shaped as a

quarter of a cylinder, housing a 800seat theatre hall with two balcony
levels.
Today, its shape and size is
concealed by poplar trees and a
Chinese restaurant terrace attached
to the facade.
Melnikov's trademark exterior stairs
were never intended for regular use;
they are actually fire escapes
connected to the second floor lobby.

GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Gosplan Garage

The Gosplan garage is located on the

outskirts of Moscow and is the last
realised project by Konstantin
Melnikov.
The architectural structure and style
of this garage is closer to futurism
than to the those of avant-garde and
constructivism.
The centre of the one-storey garage
is formed by a circular feature that
faces the street. The building still
functions as a garage and repair
shop.

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

PHILOSOPHIES
Rietveld trademarks:
Simplicity and functionality
Use of glass and steel and
hence prominent use of light
Pure abstraction
Straight lines, planes and
asymmerty

Melnikov trademarks:
Raised cubical shapes are
offset from supporting
columns
Combination of singleslopedroofs
Glazed corners

GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

ART MOVEMENTS
Gerrit Rietveld
DE STIJIL(The Style)
Neoplasticism
Pure abstraction and universality by
a reduction to the essentials of form
and colour
Compositions confined to vertical
and horizontal directions
Avoided symmetry and attained
aesthetic balance by the use of
opposition

GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Konstantin Melnikov
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Appreciation of technology and
machines
Use of modern industrial materials
Attempted to apply a threedimensionalcubistvision to
whollyabstractnon-objective
'constructions' with
akineticelement.

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

REFERENCES
Starr, S. Frederick (1978).Melnikov: solo architect in a mass society.Princeton
University Press
Cooke, Catherine(1990).Architectural Drawings of the Russian Avant-Garde.The
Museum of Modern Art
Russian 2006 biography
Alice Rawthorn (October 17, 2010),Designs Odd Man Out Gets Moment in the
SunNew York Times.
Gerrit RietveldMuseum of Modern Art, New York.
The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture; 2nd ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin; pp.
237-38
Red Blue Chair(1923)Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Rita Reif (October 13, 1988),Rietveld, an Esthetic WellspringNew York Times
"Han Schroeder: Architectural Papers
GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole

THANK YOU

GERRIT RIETVELD AND KONSTANTIN MELNOVIK

Abhisahek Agrawal, Devyani Arole