De Stijl architecture was formed by a group of young artists who created the new movement in 1917; calling both the movement and the magazine they published De Stijl. The group promoted utopian ideals and group members believed in the birth of new age in the wake of WWI. They felt it was a time of balance between individual and universal values. The work was completely abstract as well. The goal was total integration of art and life.
GERRIT THOMAS RIETVELD, Schroder House, the Netherlands, 1924.
Rietveld came to the De Stijl group as a cabinet maker and created spectacular furniture throughout his life. He used this as an inspiration for the plans and designs of his architecture. He expresses his spirits and definition into the whole piece. This structure is an anti-cube and does not contain much functional space, nor did it intend to. It instead throws all of this space out of the center therefore making the height, width, and depth an open space. The main areas such as the living room are on the second floor where as the private rooms are confined to the bottom. The second floor also uses sliding objects in order to be able to have definite shape or be open when needed. The movable panels illustrate three-dimensional ideas but have proportional planes. This contemporary style portrays nature through its open plan.
The Bauhaus
Walter Gropius developed a particular vision of “total architecture”. He made this concept the key to his work and the work of others who studied under him at a school called, The Bauhaus. It taught that all art forms, from simple to complex should be designed as a unit.
WALTER GROPIUS, Shop Block, the Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany, 1925-1926.
In 1924 a new government was elected who forced the Bauhaus to move north to Dessau. When the Bauhaus program had matured, Gropius set guidelines for the schools universal goals. These included maintaining a positive attitude to living in a contemporary