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Wouldn't it be great if we could easily transform our homes to suit the weather, our mood or simply our changing practical needs? Perhaps one of the first—and still quite extraordinary—examples of transformable ^[6] architecture is the Rietveld Schröderhuis ^[7], built in Utrecht in 1924. Custom-designed by Gerrit Rietveld ^[8] for Mrs. Truus Schröder-Schräder and her three children after the death of her husband, this beautifully functional home follows De Stijl ^[9]'s principles of harmonious order and incorporates bold primary colors and geometric shapes while adapting to its inhabitants' needs and lifestyle.

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To make this classic adaptable home, Rietveld worked side by side with Mrs. Schroder trying to please her and her notions of living without walls and having a strong inside-outside connection. The only building ever designed to follow the basis of De Stijl movement—made famous by Piet Mondrian ^[10]—the Rietveld Schröderhuis is visually very simple with its use of primary colors and geometric shapes. The outside-inside ^[11]boundaries seem to blur, thanks to its many windows that open up completely to welcome nature indoors.

The simple and straightforward house was made using long-lasting, affordable and standard materials like concrete, glass and wood, with floors made from rubber and even some small cork ^[12] areas in the bedrooms, for standing when getting out of bed. A doorbell and a long horizontal window that only open a small area to receive the post straight to the working desk inside. A Zig Zag chair ^[13] was used to sitting at the kitchen’s table while functional glazed food cabinets have been painted black only where they would get dirty.

Upstairs, three bedrooms and a living room area around a central staircase and fireplace can be dynamically turned into a open big open space when opening wide up the sliding the walls. The house only has essential beautiful objects like the Red and Blue Chair ^[14], surprising pop-up tables ^[15] like one next to a bed for only keeping water and a clock and beds that becomes sofas during the day, all for “an active attitude to life”. An exuberant experiment, a modern piece of architecture or just a home for a strong woman who knew exactly how she wanted to live, the Rietveld Schröderhuis is now a museum that can be visited with advanced reservation.

+ Rietveld Schröderhuis ^[7]

Photo © Ana Lisa Alperovich for Inhabitat

Interior Photos © Kim Zwarts and Ernst Moritz