Lex Reitsma

In 2024, the iconic Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Gerrit Rietveld designed and built the house in close collaboration with his secret lover and creative partner Truus Schröder. Rietveld himself did not build his houses for eternity; he thought a life cycle of 50 years was sufficient. But the current owners of houses designed by Rietveld think differently about this. They pull out all the stops to renovate and preserve their Rietveld houses.

Wim Crouwel (1928–2019) was a graphic designer and exhibition designer who, through his studio Total Design, changed the visual face of the Netherlands. His modernism found expression in posters and catalogues for the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, postage stamps, logos, and experimental work such as the computer typeface New Alphabet. As a student at the Rietveld Academy, documentary filmmaker Lex Reitsma became fascinated by the idiosyncratic Crouwel—not only because of his work, but also because of his personality. This documentary gives the old master a voice, interwoven with remarkable archival material and stories from family members, colleagues, admirers, and critics.