I want to create something that is appealing to me both visually and intellectually. Something that will seem easy but yet complex without feeling pressured and stiff. Something that will breathe Rietveld but not be overtaken by it. Something that is made by me.
Our starting point is Rietveld, and our other starting point is a place in Amsterdam, at Wibautstraat.
Without exactly knowing what I wanted to do I started with taking pictures of the trees there, the motorway and the small bridge at the entrance to the triangle.
Scale is not my best friend and I decided to work mainly thinking about the surrounding and the visual view. My first idea was to create something inspired by the Rietveld zomerhuis. A house which would be standing free in the air. Of course lifted with the help of panels. I wanted to create a place where on one side, the one looking to the road, it would seem that there was just a wall and once you go behind it you would find an oasis looking to the tree. I was inspired by the uplifting feeling of the zomerhuis like it was floating in the air. Something spacious and airy.
Gerrit Rietveld "Zomerhuis" en La Corbusier "La Cité Radieuse"
Once I started building it I found another picture that pushed me to the direction where I ended up. A house in Marseilles, built by Le Corbusier.
Transparency and greys would be the vital parts in this ”building”
I want to create a view for the person sitting in the box, I want to choose where the person should look, a little bit like Rietveld did at the Schröderhouse, before the bridge, motorway and new building was made. The boxes are placed in different levels, connected to each other by staircases.
It is a sort of labyrinth that can be seen as difficult to get around in. But it is an open obstacle that I think makes one more intrigued to visit. When you stand on the side were the grey wall is you still can see the transparent boxes, which is made with the intention to be seen. Just a little bit, so that you feel forced to go around and see what is hiding there. They are all connected with stairs and bridges. Like a playground and a relax area.