Mackintosh’s Hill House Becomes an International Iconic House!
SPECIAL – Czech Classics
Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 1
At Plečnik House: To Decide Where the Shadow Falls
Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 2
A Story of Burnt Books and Broken Bricks
Iconic Encounters: London
Remembering Irving J. Gill
Iconic Houses in the Media
Interview in Leading Catalan newspaper ARA
Bauhaus Villa in Berlin For Sale
Historical Exhibition, Marie-Laure de Noailles, Painter, Conversation
Our Badge of Honour
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Early Furniture Designs by Le Corbusier on Permanent Display in Maison Blanche
Photo Report City Icons Amsterdam
Healing Through Architecture
Reopening An Iconic Modernist Landmark
City Icons Kick Off with Talk by Linda Vlassenrood
MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters
Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon
Modernism Week Lecture: 12 Years of Iconic Houses
Aluminaire House Grand Opening
Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde
An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture
Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner
SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!
SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams North America - Sleep in an Iconic House!
SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!
SPECIAL - Vacances en France!
SPECIAL – German Greats!
SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!
SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!
SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies
SPECIAL – Iconic Collective Housing
SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses
Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House
Support the Frankfurt Declaration (on Housing)
Winy Wants a World Wonder
Welcome Atelier Volten!
Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House
Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package
The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague
Icons of the Czech Avantgarde
Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta
Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons
Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses
7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success
Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá
Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska
Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof
17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum
Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!
Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism
Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects
'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop
Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin
Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen
'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House
Rietveld Houses Owners Association
Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops
Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House
Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!
Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97
Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand
Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House
Welcome Umbrella House!
Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip
Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave
Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami
Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary
Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House
Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved
Serralves Villa after restoration
Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione
Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe
Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building
Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle
BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time
New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform
Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina
A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo
Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman
Winy Maas on the Green Dip
Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s
Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois
The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer
Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism
Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage
Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces
July is Iconic Houses Month
Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House
Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk
Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!
How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event
Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House
13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage
Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!
Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970
Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments
Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design
ICONS AT RISK
Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck
Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'
A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism
New Centre for Historic Houses of India
An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House
Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands
A Mendini temple in Amsterdam
IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House
Sponsors and Friends
An Afternoon with the Glucks
Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable
Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK
Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon
Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors
Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois
Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership
Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar
Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering
Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra
Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project
We welcome 13 new members!
BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!
LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright
Iconic Reads
Iconic Houses End Year Message
City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?
Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress
Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk
Renovation Gili House in Crisis
An Iconic Saga
Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies
Modernism on the East Coast
Iconic Houses in Latin America
Conference testimonials
House Tours May 2018
Expert Meetings
Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter
Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson
New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne
Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House
John Arbuckle on Great House Tours
William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan
Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson
Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House
Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation
Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)
Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina
Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán
Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro
Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation
Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships
John Bacon on Planned Giving
Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America
Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More
Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times
Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation
Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod
Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses
Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House
5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018
Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company
Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio
Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association
Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale
Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico
De Stijl in Drachten
Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio
Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru
Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil
Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition
Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece
In Berlin’s Modernist Network
Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary
Meet Our New Foundation Board Members
Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation
Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D
Getty Grant for Villa E-1027
Plečnik House in Ljubljana
Iconic Dacha
Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip
Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí
11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List
At home with Le Corbusier
Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored
Lynda Waggoner reports
A Conference to Remember
4th International Iconic Houses Conference
Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner
Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour
Wright Plus 2016 Walk
Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute
John Mcllwee, Garcia House
Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup
Iconic Houses: The Story So Far
Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses
Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor
Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes
Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage
Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra
Sidney Williams, Frey House
Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists
Meet the Friends - James Haefner
Toshiko Mori, architect
Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust
Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke
Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House
Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office
Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House
Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library
Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences
Ted Bosley, Gamble House
Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants
Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer
Wim de Wit, Stanford University
Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy
Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage
Join us in Los Angeles! Update
Work in Progress: Casa Vicens
Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House
Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois
Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House
Conference calls!
Follow us!
Third Iconic Houses Conference a huge success
Conference House Tours Barcelona
Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera
Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation
Special speaker Oscar Tusquets
Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’
Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation
Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner
Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda
Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)
Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain
Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc
Conference Program 25 November 2014
Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó
Documentary La Ricarda
Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera
Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera
Henry Urbach, The Glass House
Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12, 2013
Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum
Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat
Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater
Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center
Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld
Barragán House on Screen
Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move
Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013
Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open
September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris
June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments
Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook
Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture
Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse
New arrivals: Spain special
MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June
Taut's Home wins Europa Nostra Award
Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May
Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen
Message from the Editor
Neutra’s House on Screen
Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier
Symposium The Public and the Modern House
Melnikov House on Screen
Iconic Houses in the media
Message from the Editor
Round Table Review
Eileen Gray House on Screen
Copy Culture
At Home in the 20th Century
New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches
Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House
The Unique Collaboration Between Cornelis van Eesteren and Theo van Doesburg
Text: Jorn Konijn | Photos: Piet Gispen
Kinderdijk is internationally best known for its windmills, but a very special building was realized on West Kinderdijk 100 years ago: Van Zessen House. The house was designed by the well-known urban planner Cornelis van Eesteren in collaboration with the artist Theo van Doesburg and it is the only house designed by Van Eesteren that was built and still exists today. Since the foundation of Iconic Houses ten years ago, Van Zessen House has been a member of the international network of nearly two hundred modern museum homes. The house can be visited by appointment.
Cornelis van Eesteren (1897 –1988) was the eldest son of Balten van Eesteren, founder and director of the Boele & van Eesteren contracting firm. As the eldest son, Cornelis was destined to become a contractor as well, but soon became interested in architecture and the visual arts. After his studies at the Academy of Visual Arts and Technical Sciences in Rotterdam, he designed a dyke house for the widow Burgerina van Zessen-Stout. It was Van Eesteren's ambition to design a new type of dike house with this house: no decorative superfluous, no romanticism, but a basic house with a functional floor plan. The design was also dictated by the limited budget and the limited implementation options of his father's company that built the dike house.
In March 1923, Van Eesteren had completed his design, but he was not present during construction, because in May he left for Paris, together with the painter Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931), to prepare the De Stijl exhibition, which would later become famous. Van Eesteren had taken the drawing of the Van Zessen House with him, and Van Doesburg used the drawing to design the colour scheme for window frames, windows, doors, stairs, and shutters. Van Eesteren sent the coloured drawing, with instructions for the painter, from Paris to Alblasserdam. The house was completed by the end of November 1923. Only around the turn of the year 1923-24, when Van Eesteren was back home, did he see the house with its colours for the first time. He loved the beautiful colour. “I see it every day and I always enjoy it again and again.”
“I see it every day and I always enjoy it again and again.” |
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The influential avant-garde French architecture magazine L'Architecture Vivante published the house in the spring of 1924. When Van Doesburg saw the colour reproductions, he was overjoyed: he thought the house would become 'world famous'. This was a mistake. The house is rarely mentioned in books about modern Dutch architecture.
Nevertheless, the house has become one of the earliest examples of modern functionalist architecture: sleek volumes, covered by a flat roof and enlivened by functional elements. The use of materials is traditional, but the form, on the other hand, is radically new. The view from the water in particular shows what Van Eesteren intended: a simple, clearly expressive form and, above all, no romantic clutter.
Strikingly modern, but also useful when it rains, is the awning. Painted black, it seems to float despite its heaviness due to the lack of visible support. On the first floor, the traditional inviolability of the corner of the building is rationally broken. The window has its function, because it is very pleasant to see what is happening further down the dike. Like the awning, the upper layers of masonry seem to float because the blue window frame in the corner cannot provide any optical support. Van Eesteren has fitted the house with a flat roof. He did not want an overhang and certainly not a sloping roof, as these would disturb the sleek silhouette effect.
Theo van Doesburg gave a complicated explanation about the colours, which means that the colours maintain diagonal relations with each other. This is at odds with the support and load principle of architecture. The so-called 'colour construction' is at odds with the architectural construction, making the building appear less heavy and aesthetically liberated. That is why Van Doesburg also uses the expression 'colour solution'.
Today, Van Zessen House is owned by the Van Eesteren-Fluck & Van Lohuizen Foundation, which manages the estate of Van Eesteren and his business partner Theo van Lohuizen. It was restored in 1990 by architect Bertus Mulder, bringing back the original colours. It is a national monument where the rarity value mainly consists of the materialization of the unique collaboration between Van Eesteren and Van Doesburg.
In the same year, this collaboration between Van Eesteren and Doesburg led to another design that has since become world famous: the Maison d'Artiste. This design for an artist's home was presented during the same famous De Stijl exhibition in Paris. With their design for Maison d'Artiste, Van Eesteren and Van Doesburg pursued a radical reform in art and architecture, as a reflection on social, scientific, and technological changes that were taking place at the time. The design of the Maison d'Artiste was not only a spatial sculpture, but also a manifesto for new architecture. It is even questionable whether the designers intended it to be built at all.
The Maison d'Artiste is designed as if it were detached from the ground as if gravity did not exist. The designers were criticized in the press for not taking practical implementation into account in their floating architecture and for leaving this unsolvable problem to the engineers. However, its ground-breaking design, which anticipated advancements in technology, would have a major impact on modern architecture.
In 2023, both Van Zessen House and Maison d'Artiste are celebrating their 100th anniversary, which will be celebrated in various places throughout the Netherlands. The large-scale model of Maison d'Artiste travels through the Netherlands and exhibitions can be visited in various museums. The permanent exhibition about the young Van Eesteren and De Stijl has been opened to the public in the Van Zessen House. The exhibition focuses on the short, but very fruitful collaboration between Cornelis van Eesteren and Theo van Doesburg in the period 1922-1923, and his further development and designs in the interwar period.
About the author
Jorn Konijn has been director of the Van Eesteren Museum in Amsterdam-West since June 2022. Konijn worked as head programmer at Dutch Design Week, as curator at EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam and the Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam. This year, the Van Eesteren Museum is also devoting a great deal of attention to the two iconic designs with lectures and a debate.
Maison d'Artiste Large-Scale Model in Rotterdam
November 24, 2023 - February 4, 2024
With the current high-tech resources, the Maison d'Artiste has now become buildable. The large, coloured scale model will be displayed as an eye-catcher at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam this winter. The archive of multidisciplinary artist Theo van Doesburg is one of Het Nieuwe Institutes top collections. The simultaneous exhibition at Het Nieuwe Instituut examines the initiative to carry out the design and models show the required high-tech materials that are necessary for a possible realization. The book '100 Years of Mythe Maison d'Artiste' is then for sale in two languages in the bookshop.
Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House
Film screenings 10 September 10 and 22 October 2023
Based on twenty Dutch modern house museums, the film Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House (60 minutes) provides insight into Dutch residential architecture in the 20th century in five themes: Hygiene and health in the modern home; Palaces for the people; The roles of women: clients and architects; Experiments with space; The house as a self-portrait: architect houses.
Sunday September 10, Heritage Day, in Wall House #2 in Groningen.
Sunday 22 October in Museum Dra8888 in combination with a visit to the Van Doesburg Rinsemahuis and the National Agricultural Winter School, both with a colour design by Theo van Doesburg.
More information can be found at www.iconichouses.org.
The 1 hour video can also be streamed via the webshop.
This article previously appeared in Dutch Magazine Herenhuis #97, September/October 2023.
Photos: Piet Gispen, courtesy Van Eesteren-Fluck & Van Lohuizen Foundation.
Posted September 4, 2023