Gerrit Rietveld

The Design Miami trade fair takes place parallel to Art Basel – but this year only featured very few highlights. There was a lack of real innovations or an exciting exhibition.

Salone 3: Forget social issues. The trend in furniture is to give modern classics a contemporary tweak, a makeover that guarantees their timelessness.

At Design Miami, which took place in parallel to Art Basel, the French galleries presented an awful lot of Jean Prouvé originals. The icing on the cake: Konstantin Grcic transformed an Audi TT into a mobile living machine.

The Design Miami trade fair, which runs parallel to Art Basel, was not very convincing. It lacked a clear curatorial thrust, exciting exhibitions and statements. And not least there was no clear position on contemporary design, although this is so sorely needed.

Architecture for Rietveld is spatial art. The Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht is not the only example of open-space constructions by Rietveld that foster a new lifestyle.

Gerrit Rietveld is one of the best-known Modernist designers and architects. However, his oeuvre is not just of historical interest. A visit to the exhibition at Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein shows how Rietveld addresses space, and proves himself to be highly topical.