ork/Pictoright, Amsterdam;
tists Rights Society (ARS). New Y
tesy of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
© 2008 Ar Cour
Tales of the Unexpected
Gerrit Rietveld at Expo 58
By Peter Wever and André Koch
Furniture designer and architect Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1888–1964), the
most famous figure of the Dutch modernist movement De Stijl, is best
known for his early work: the Red and Blue chair (1918) and the Rietveld
Schröder house (1924). However, his creative efforts spanned his entire
life, culminating in Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, his last built project,
which he designed in 1963–64. One little-known, but noteworthy, project

is Rietveld’s late-career contribution to the Brussels World’s Fair of 1958.
Fifty years ago, Brussels, the capital of Belgium, was host to the first
world’s fair of the new atomic age following World War II. At Expo 58, 40
nations and nine international organizations presented themselves over a
six-month period to more than 41 million visitors. With memories still fresh
of the cataclysm of WWII and the atom bombs unleashed on Japan, global
ork/Pictoright, Amsterdam;
humanity was chosen as the central theme of the exhibition, while the
peaceful use of atomic energy was symbolized by the futuristic Atomium,
a model of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, that dominated the
fair grounds.
The Netherlands, together with the Soviet Union, the United States and
France, were assigned the largest sites at Expo 58, more than six acres
each. Fittingly for the low-lying country, known for its dikes and reclaimed
tists Rights Society (ARS). New Y
land, the Dutch pavilion’s theme was “water as friend and enemy.” The
tesy of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
architecture firms of Jo van den Broek and Jaap Bakema; Joost Boks; Frits
© 2008 Ar Cour
Peutz; and Gerrit Rietveld were invited to present proposals for the pavilion,
Above Gerrit Rietveld, around 1947, with a model of
but supervising architects J.J.P. Oud and Ben Merkelbach convinced the
a “core house” in which the central core comprising
Dutch pavilion’s organizers to work with all the architects together, rather
hallway, kitchen, bathroom, toilet and stairway would than choose a single scheme. Peutz, whose approach differed greatly from
be built in the factory, with additional rooms added
the more modernist architects on the team, dropped out, but the rest of
on site.
the group reworked a plan by Boks into a design consisting of a central
Top Rietveld’s 1956 design for the Philips pavilion circular building surrounded by rectangular exhibition halls. The young and
at Expo 58.
talented Bakema had great influence on the definitive plan and was put in
Opposite For the textiles exhibit, Rietveld designed
charge of the central dome and entrance pavilion.
display platforms connected through enormous walls The team used the site’s height differences to suggest the geographic
of plastered wire mesh of undefined forms.
situation of the Netherlands: the higher level was transformed into a
52 www.modernismmagazine.com