BOOK FORMAT
Clth, 8.5 x 9.5 in. / 156 pgs / 113 color.

PUBLISHING STATUS
Pub Date 8/30/2010
Out of print

DISTRIBUTION
D.A.P. Exclusive
Catalog: FALL 2010 p. 86

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN 9789056627508 FLAT40
List Price: $45.00 CDN $55.00

AVAILABILITY
Not available

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

Otterlo, Netherlands
Kröller-Müller Museum, 04/02/10-08/29/10

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Robert van ‘t Hoff: Architect of a New Society

Text by Dolf Broekhuizen, Herman van Bergeijk, Evert van Straaten.

A principal member of the De Stijl group, the Dutch architect and theorist Robert van 't Hoff (1887-1979) designed buildings, composed essays and provided financial support for the movement, making him an animating presence in the Dutch avant garde. Van 't Hoff's view of the architect's role exemplified the movement's utopian ideals, and his hands-on approach meant that during the construction of his renowned Villa Henny, for example, the architect was often to be seen on the scaffolding alongside the manual workers (an unusual sight at the time). Villa Henny was one of the earliest houses to be built out of reinforced concrete, and one of the first buildings in Europe to utilize the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright; today it is an icon of modernist architecture and a forerunner of the Nieuwe Bouwen movement. This first monograph on van 't Hoff gathers his critical writings alongside unpublished materials and descriptions of his best known projects.

"The hermit's cell that Robert van't Hoff had built in 1960 is of yet another caliber: it is the sober construction of a universe built to his own design, in which the world is shut out as much as possible and only a number of books, such as those written by William Thompson, and practical items are allowed in. its purpose is to develop perceptions of living in the world, all the while separated from the world."
Evert van Straaten, excerpted from Robert van't Hoff: Architect of a New Society, from which this image is reproduced.

STATUS: Out of print | 00/00/00

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FROM THE BOOK

"Visiting a studio is fascinating, because of the excitement of seeing new work. It is also often very personal, because you are entering the private domain of an artist. Being brought face to face with the unknown work of an 'old master' can also be confrontational. When I first set foot in Robert van't Hoff's study a few years ago, I did that respectfully, aware of being an intruder. Van't Hoff had been dead for more than 25 years, but the room in his house in New Milton was still very much his domain. During his life, he had only shown this work to a handful of people. I realized that this unknown design held the entirely personal aims of an architect who had wished to leave his mark on the artists involved in the innovative movement centered round the magazine De Stijl. This last work created by van't Hoff had to be preserved, because it succeeds so well in making his search for a new world into something observers can actually experience, and because it sheds new light on the aspirations of one of the artists connected with De Stijl."

Evert van Straaten, excerpted from Robert van't Hodd's Study: The Acquisition of an Uknown Work in Robert van't Hoff: Architect of a New Society.

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