Functionalism emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century and had its heyday in the interwar years. Sonneveld House, built between 1929 and 1933, is one of the best-preserved private houses in this style in the Netherlands. Light, air and space were important qualities for Functionalist architects. They strove to create a healthy living environment with abundant fresh air and sunlight for their buildings’ residents and users. The building’s function and the needs of the

Brinkman en Van der Vlugt were among the first architects in the Netherlands to design a garden that complemented their Functionalist building design. The clean lines of Sonneveld House are echoed in the design of the garden. The building’s rectilinear massing is mirrored in the form of the terraces and hedges. The design was shaped by ideas about a healthy lifestyle and outdoors activities: the balconies, roof terrace, veranda and garden allowed for intensive use of outdoor spaces

Sonneveld House adheres not only to the principles of Functionalism but also to the five points that Le Corbusier formulated in his book Vers une architecture (1921).Les pilotis: the core of the building stands on columns, free from the ground. Le toit-jardin: balconies and roof terraces form the transition between inside and outside.  Le plan libre: the skeletal structure creates an open floor plan without loadbearing walls. La façade libre: the façades are not loadbearing and

Sonneveld House has a steel skeletal structure and concrete floors, enabling it to dispense with loadbearing walls, thus allowing the spaces to be divided with greater freedom. Walls were used only to separate spaces. To create optimal openness and flexibility, on this floor the architects opted to divide the spaces with sliding panels and curtains rather than fixed walls. In this way it was possible for the living room to stretch across the entire length of the house. The bands of windows

‘More light in the home’ was the advice that architects heard from all sides from the 1920s. The familiar gloom of most interiors was to make way for abundant, indirect light. Indirect light was especially popular with architects because it did not create shadows. Brinkman & Van der Vlugt also wholeheartedly embraced this idea. They worked together with Gispen, who had a large range of lamps with specially developed GISO glass, which ensured diffuse lighting. In his series of

The interior is characterised by warm, bright colours: vermillion red, cornflower blue, and canary yellow, combined with light and dark grey and brown. The furnishing fabrics came from Metz & Co., including a range of colours designed by artist Bart van der Leck (1876-1958). In the sitting room and library Van der Leck’s colours in the yellow office chair and orange-red armchairs form accents against a more neutral palette of brown, bronze and beige. In the bedrooms and dining room the

Mrs Sonneveld appreciated the value of appliances that could make her life easier. She was a practical, decisive and independent woman who did not like to waste time or money. This is clear from the many innovative gadgets in the house designed to create an efficient household: the electric coffee grinder on the kitchen counter, the rubbish chute to the right of the door, the intercom system that enabled her to hear who was at the service entrance below. The goods that were delivered could then

In 1931 the Netherlands Association of Housewives commissioned architect J.W. Janzen to design the ‘Holland Kitchen’, the Dutch response to the ‘Frankfurt Kitchen’ (1926) of Margarete Shütte-Lihotsky. The design took account of modern time and motion studies. It provided a minimal walking distance and the best natural lighting for the most common activities such as cooking and washing up and it employed standard measurements. However, the ‘Holland’

Brinkman & Van der Vlugt was one of the most important and most successful Dutch architecture practices in the inter-war years and was the leading exponent of Functionalist architecture in the Netherlands. Tea, coffee and tobacco manufacturer Van Nelle was Brinkman & Van der Vlugt’s most important client in its early years. The Rotterdam-based practice designed not only the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam, but also the company’s branches in Leiden and Utrecht. In addition, the

The daughters Puck and Gé shared a bathroom, located between their two bedrooms. The turquoise wall tiles in the girls’ bathroom are also to be found in the Van Nelle factory, of which their father was a director. It is possible that leftover tiles were used for the bathroom, but it is more likely that Albertus Sonneveld liked this colour so much that he wanted to have it in his own house too. The same tiles also feature generously in his own bathroom on the next floor up. The floor tiles

Sonneveld House is a fine example of a modern Gesamtkunstwerk. The architecture, interior design and furnishings form a total concept, carefully tuned to and enhancing each other. The architects Brinkman & Van der Vlugt worked closely with their client, whose lifestyle, wishes and preferences were considered in the design. The colours of the rooms and the technical facilities were chosen in consultation with the family. For example, Gé’s and Puck’s rooms were decorated in their favourite

Linoleum was an integral part of Functionalist architecture. It is hygienic, easy to maintain and lies flat and even, without lumps or bumps. At the beginning of the 1930s linoleum was quite expensive. It was used in hospitals but not in private houses. It was therefore a great luxury to have it in the guest bedroom, the serving room and in both servants’ rooms. Dark-brown linoleum was also planned for the parents’ bedroom but eventually a warmer and more luxurious woollen carpet was

It was an extraordinary luxury for servants to have their own room in a period in which many homes did not even have a bathroom. Despite the opulence of the villas built for the directors of the Van Nelle factory, Functionalism was a socially engaged architectural movement with an interest in social housing and improving living conditions for the working classes. The motto ‘air, light and space’ was intended to liberate workers from their cramped houses and to offer them a healthier

The staircase winds like a screw through the entire house. The steps are covered with black marble – actually ‘Namur stone’ from Vinalmont near Liège – and strips of rubber to dampen the sound. The construction is best appreciated from the first floor. The central axis is open and the glistening chrome-plated bannisters have the effect of festive serpentines guiding the form. The incoming light is diffused beautifully by the frosted windows, in which a pattern of