Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterloo

23.04.2009 | what’s on
by The New Institute, (former Netherlands Architecture Institute NAI)

The Kröller-Müller Museum is making the exhibition about the Dutch architect Rob van ’t Hoff available for loan.

Content
This comprehensive exhibition about the Dutch architect Rob van ’t Hoff (1887 – 1973) provides an overview of his oeuvre and his personal aspirations, based on important themes in his work. His design for Villa Henny, the ‘concrete villa’ built in 1915-19, was one of the earliest examples of het Nieuwe Bouwen or modernist architecture, and it is referred to in numerous surveys as a revolutionary contribution to the renewal of Dutch architecture. He was also a prominent member of the Dutch avant-garde movement De Stijl. What is not so well known is Van ’t Hoff’s striving for a more engaged society by means of contemporary architecture. The publication and exhibition present this theme as an integral part of his work. The exhibition also presents a great deal of material that has been virtually unknown until now, like a three-seater sofa from 1918, swimming trunks and a specially made wooden bookcase containing the architect’s collection of social-utopian books. A completely unknown interior of the architect’s study from his house will be exhibited for the first time.

Exhibition
Title: Rob van ’t Hoff, Architect of a New Society
Initiated and commissioned by: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, the Netherlands
Guest curator: Dr Dolf Broekhuizen
Exhibition dates in the Netherlands: 1 April – 29 August 2010
Available for transportation: from September 2010
For this project, the Kröller-Müller Museum has worked closely with the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi) in Rotterdam.

Type of objects
-original design drawings for buildings (c. 1910 – 1945)
-historical photos (of buildings; portraits) (c. 1910 – 1979)
-model of banister post (1918; reconstructed 2000)
-furniture (1918) (three-seater sofa)
-interior of study, including drawing materials and clothing (c. 1960)
-manifesto 1926 (published version and manuscript)
-books (social-utopian publications 1800-1950, formerly in the Rob van ’t Hoff collection)
– De Stijl journals, with articles by Rob van ’t Hoff (1917 – 1931)

Loan  
The material comes from various public and private collections in the Netherlands.
Surface area required: approximately 500m2 of floor surface is required for this exhibition.
The material will be supplied with texts relating to content and informative captions (in frames), and display cases.
The museum borrowing the exhibition can determine how best to display the material, adjusting it to the exhibition area as required, and it can decide what sort of typography is required.

Costs
We expect the following costs to be met proportionately by borrowing institutions, with costs being adjusted according to the number of participating institutions:
– a contribution towards the development costs, the amount depending on the number of participating institutions
– purchase of 400 books for the exhibition, discounted by 40%

The borrowing institution must take into account all usual costs such as:
– transport costs
– local installation costs, insurance, official opening and the like.

Publication
A monograph will be published to accompany the exhibition. It will contain expert analyses of the architect’s life and work in the context of his personal and geographical circumstances. A complete list of Van ‘t Hoff’s buildings and projects.
Publisher: NAi Publishers, Rotterdam
Languages: Dutch edition, English edition, and the possibility for an edition in another language
Authors: Dr Evert van Straaten, Dr Dolf Broekhuizen, Dr Herman van Bergeijk
Number of words: approximately 23 000
Length: approximately 156 pages full-colour, 130 illustrations (colour and black and white)
Content (preliminary): survey of oeuvre, interior of study, historiography, texts by Rob van ’t Hoff

Information
Should you be interested in borrowing this exhibition or if you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Dolf Broekhuizen by dolfbroekhuizen@kmm.nl

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