Rietveld Chair and Stool

I made these versions of Gerrit Rietveld’s famous Red-Blue Chair and Military Stool from plans in the book How to Construct Rietveld Furniture (or Rietveld Meubels Om Zelf Maken – it’s printed in Dutch and English). Materials were ash and baltic birch plywood. The chair is surprisingly comfortable, considering that you are basically sitting on two pieces of plywood. And because of the dimensions, the chair does not work for larger humans. Rietveld was an architect, and he produced the chair in colors to suit the interior design of the home. I used brushed on alkyd enamel in a color I had used for some book shelves in the same room, and I sprayed the frame flat black with Rustoleum spray. The second picture shows the chair in the shop with a dark gray primer that I changed to flat black. The third picture shows me at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where I saw one of Rietveld’s original chairs.

The side table is based on Rietveld’s Military Stool. The plan called for a one piece top of plywood, but I found that I did not have a large enough piece. I did not want to buy another full sheet, so I used two smaller pieces that I painted red and yellow. Primary colors are one of the characteristics of Rietveld furniture. I like the way the change turned out. Sometimes design-by-necessity produces unexpectedly good results.

I added a copy of a picture of Rietveld in his chair, c1918, just because these guys look like such a fun-loving group.

-- JohnnyB - - Sometimes determination can substitute for skill.