exhibition
14 April 2011 > 10 July 2011

UNIVERSO RIETVELD architecture art design

14 April – 10 July 2011
curators: Maristella Casciato, Domitilla Dardi, Ida van Zijl
Gallery 1

Architect, craftsman and woodworker, interior and furniture designer, teacher and skilled designer of exhibitions and exhibition spaces, Rietveld was also an anticipator of many of the developments in current architecture and the contemporary idea of democratic design in which quality is married to mass production.
MAXXI Architettura is presenting the first Italian monographic exhibition on Gerrit Rietveld (Utrecht 1888-1964) and his universe, from 14 April to 10 July 2011, coproduced by MAXXI with the Central Museum of Utrecht and NAi Rotterdam, curated  by Maristella Casciato, Domitilla Dardi and Ida van Zijl.

The exhibition – with over 100 works of architecture and design for a total of around 400 items including drawings, photos and models – provides a 360° overview of the Dutch master’s work: from his relationships with the artists of the De Stijl group (Theo van Doesburg, Bart van der Leck, Vilmos Huszár, J.J.P. Oud) and the protagonists of the Modernist avant-garde (Le Corbusier, Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright) through to his influences on contemporary architecture and design (from Alessandro Mendini to Ettore Sottsass and Maarten Baas).
Lastly, Rietveld’s relationship with the 21st century is revealed through 14 interviews with contemporary protagonists on a video loop in the exhibition space (featuring Gae Aulenti, Andrea Branzi, Vittorio Gregotti and Enzo Mari) and in their works on show. The exhibition layout is further enriched by the Rietveld Workshop installation curated by the MAXXI Educational Department: an external space designed by the Scandinavian studio Rintala Eggerstsson Architects – in a perfect Rietveldian spirit of spare essentiality – in which visitors may experiment with the construction of a number of pieces of furniture by Rietveld.

> Gerrit Thomas Rietveld: biography


1. Red and Blue G.Th Rietveld 1918, produzione Cassina 1973
2. Zig Zag, G.Th Rietveld 1934, produzione Cassina 1973


Utrecht Casa Schröder G.Th Rietveld 1924


Arnhem Padiglione Sonsbeek G.Th Rietveld 1955