What is De Stijl?
De Stijl (Dutch for “The Style”) was a Dutch artists’ group and art and architecture movement, founded in 1917, that pursued a strictly abstract, geometric language of straight lines, flat planes and primary colours. It was named after its magazine, first published in 1917. Theo van Doesburg was its driving force and editor, and Piet Mondrian its other leading figure. The final issue, in 1932, was a memorial to Van Doesburg, who had died in 1931.
The circle included Bart van der Leck, Vilmos Huszár, Georges Vantongerloo and the architects J.J.P. Oud, Jan Wils, Robert van ‘t Hoff, Cornelis van Eesteren and Gerrit Rietveld. Mondrian called the principles neoplasticism. When Van Doesburg introduced the diagonal with Elementarism around 1924, Mondrian broke with the group.
Recognising it
- Form: only horizontal and vertical lines and planes, arranged asymmetrically.
- Colour: red, yellow and blue, plus white, grey and black.
- Space: freestanding wall planes instead of closed boxes, open interiors, and a blurred line between inside and outside, for example through corner windows.
- Examples: the Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht (1924), regarded as the only building realised entirely on De Stijl principles, and Rietveld’s Red and Blue Chair (prototype around 1918).
Application
- Use colour sparingly. The effect comes from large white and grey surfaces with small accents of primary colour.
- Think in planes. Treat canopies, balcony slabs and wall panels as separate planes that slide past each other.
- Engineer corner windows. A corner without a post needs a structural solution such as a cantilever or a beam. Have a structural engineer size it.
- Take care with listed buildings. Check with the local heritage authority before changing colours or windows on a protected building.
Common mistake: treating De Stijl as the same thing as the Bauhaus. There was exchange, and Van Doesburg gave his own courses in Weimar in 1921 and 1922, but De Stijl was a Dutch movement with its own strict rules on line and colour.
Related terms
- Rietveld Schroder House
- Bauhaus
- International Style
- Het Nieuwe Bouwen
- Cubism
- Functionalism
Want to know more about building terms? Visit our knowledge base at fredsdiyplans.com.