Page 33 - Studio International - March 1969

any concrete form, they should be considered some of the original spatial ideas, though the Top left
Composition 7, 1917
as demonstrations of his concept. They suggest houses they envisaged were never built. The
Centre left
the handling of plane and colour in space to first realization of his space/time concept came Contra-composition 5, 1924
define space. In fact van Doesburg never did a year later, through the work of another: the Bottom left
Composition of three paintings, 1920
this himself; he relied on two-dimensional Schröder House at Utrecht in Holland, de-
Top centre
diagrams to convey the idea, which makes his signed and built by Gerrit Rietveld. It is Composition, 1924
intuitive awareness of spatial relationships all remarkable that Rietveld managed to demon- Centre
the more remarkable. strate this spatial concept more clearly within Detail of window, 1918
Bottom centre
The diagrams do not suggest domestic houses, the limits of traditional building materials Drawing for ceiling of cinema room of Café Aubette,
but in the attempt to realize these ideas in a than had van Doesburg and van Eesteren 1926-28
public form he worked on projects for such done in the comparative freedom of model- Top right
Axiometric drawing with colour for house, 1923
houses, and his idea of using asymmetrically- making. Rietveld was essentially a maker, Centre right
placed vertical and horizontal colour planes, and was certainly inspired by the work of van Van Eesteren, drawing for University Hall, 1921-22
balanced freely in space, was compromised in Doesburg and van Eesteren. He did not have Bottom right
1968 Reconstruction of dance room of Café Aubette,
making the models. These models still contain the vision of van Doesburg and there was no 1926-28
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