"Begin with the end in mind"
Utrecht
May 2002
Utrecht like the rest of the country it belongs to is a beautiful, historic, layed back, open minded, proud and modern city.
Although I had spent time here in my youth, the purpose of this visit in 1998 was really a bit of a pilgrimage to see the iconic Schroder House.
Inscape was introduced to the work of Gerrit Thomas Rietveld in 1987 when observing a very odd and tacity looking painted chair in a flat belonging to Richard Murphy. It was some sort of college project of his and common sense told you not to rest your coat on it least of all to actually sit on it. It was a copy of the Red and Blue Chair by Rietveld.
Not long afterwards we worked in the home of Ian Wall, Chief Executive of the EDI Group in Edinburgh. He had a book sitting on the kitchen table of the collected works of Rietveld which included a cardboard model of the very same chair.
Over the next few years and after building several early projects for Richard Murphy Architects we learned more of the Dutch Architect and his obvious influence on the work of RMA.
Eventually opportunity arose and we made the journey to Utrecht in Central Holland to see for ourselves.
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