Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

How has avant-garde architecture developed in the Netherlands over the past hundred years and what have the residents of 'ordinary houses' benefited from the -sometimes wild- experiments of the architects? The film Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House provides insight into Dutch residential architecture of the 20th century. A must for architecture enthusiasts, owners of modern houses, architects, architecture students and anyone with an interest in young heritage or design.

The film consists of five themes in which twenty iconic houses, spread throughout the Netherlands, are discussed: from the Amsterdam School to Postmodernism, from Gerrit Rietveld to Mart van Schijndel and many others. There are also famous examples of social housing, an area in which the Netherlands was particularly successful. Iconic Houses counts 26 member museums in the Netherlands now and internationally almost 200 modern house museums are affiliated with the network.

The film is programmed regularly by member museums of Iconic Houses.
The next screening is on June 13th, 2025, 5pm, Museum of Sopot in Poland.

If you sign up for our newsletter, you will automatically be informed when new screenings are scheduled. You can also stream Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House via the webshop.

Themes addressed in the film include:

• Hygiene and Health in the Modern Home
• Palaces for the People
• A Woman’s Place: Clients & Architects
• Experiments with Space
• Home as Self-Portrait: Architect's Houses

Theme 1. Hygiene and Health in the Modern Home
Hetty Berens, curator of Het Nieuwe Instituut and Sonneveld House in Rotterdam, explains how improved hygiene has made homes in the Netherlands healthier.

House museums featured in this theme:

• De Kiefhoek, J.J.P. Oud, Rotterdam, 1930
• Erasmuslaan Model Home, Gerrit Rietveld, Utrecht, 1931
• Sonneveld House, Brinkman & Van der Vlugt, Rotterdam, 1933
• Dijkstra House, Ben Merkelbach and Charles Karsten, Groet, 1934
• Kraayeveld House, now Chabot Museum, G.W. Baas, Rotterdam, 1938

Theme 2. Palaces for the People
Valentijn Carbo, architectural historian at Hendrick de Keyser Monuments, tells from the model home of Museum Het Schip what building for the masses in the twenties and fifties looked like and links the projects through their differences or similarities.

House museums featured in this theme:

• Model Home in Museum Het Schip, Michel de Klerk, Amsterdam, 1921
• De Papaverhof, Jan Wils, The Hague Haag, 1921
• Van Eesteren House Museum, Nielsen, Spruit & Van de Kuile, Amsterdam, 1952
• Polman House, Lotte Stam-Beese and Ernest Groosman, Nagele, 1956
• Robijnhof Model Home, Gerrit Rietveld, Utrecht, 1958

Theme 3. A Woman’s Place: Clients & Architects
Natalie Dubois, curator of Design at the Centraal Museum Utrecht and Rietveld Schröder House, talks about the different and important roles that women played in the Netherlands.

House museums featured in this theme:

• Country Residence/Museum Jachthuis Sint Hubertus, H.P. Berlage, client Hélène Kröller Müller, Otterlo, 1920
• Rietveld Schröder House, Gerrit Rietveld, client and co-designer Truus Schröder-Schräder, Utrecht, 1924
• Polman House, architect Lotte Stam-Beese, Nagele, 1956

Theme 4. Experiments with Space
Robert von der Nahmer, architect, owner of the Diagoon House in Delft and former teacher/staff member at the Academy of Architecture in Rotterdam, sheds light on the search for architectural and visual ways to direct, intensify and experiment with our experience of space and time. He explores what is called 'home culture' - the culture of living in our homes.

House museums featured in this theme:

• Van Doesburg Rinsemahuis, Theo van Doesburg, Drachten, 1921
• Van Zessen House, Cornelis van Eesteren, West Kinderdijk, 1923
• Diagoon House, Herman Hertzberger, Delft, 1971
• Cube House, Piet Blom, Rotterdam, 1984
• Wall House #2, John Hejduk, Groningen, 2001

Theme 5. Home as Self-Portrait: Architect's Houses
Natascha Drabbe, architectural historian, owner of the Van Schijndel House and director and founder of the Iconic Houses Network shows four houses that architects and an artist couple designed for themselves and where they put their theories into practice down to the smallest detail.

House museums featured in this theme:

• Sybold van Ravesteyn House, Sybold van Ravesteyn, Utrecht, 1932
• Jan de Jong House, Jan de Jong, Schaijk, 1956-1983
• Van Schijndel House, Mart van Schijndel, Utrecht, 1992
• The Tempelhof, Huub & Adelheid Kortekaas, Winssen, 1995-1999

Past Screenings:

• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona

• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona
• El Palauet Royal Suites in Barcelona

Tuesday April 1st, 2025
El Palauet in Barcelona, Spain

Monday November 4th, 2024
Dorich House Museum in London, United Kingdom

Sunday March 24th, 2024
Haus Lange Haus Esters in Krefeld, Germany

Sunday October 22nd, 2023
Museum Dra8888 in Drachten, The Netherlands
With a visit to the Van Doesburg Rinsema House and the National Agricultural Winter School (now a private house), both featuring a colour design by Theo van Doesburg.

Saturday October 7th, 2023
Maison Louis Carré in Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France
6:00pm Shuttle departs from Porte d'Auteuil in front of the fountain in Paris for Bazoches-sur-Guyonne
7:00pm Arrival Maison Louis Carré
7:30pm Start screening of theme 1 and 2
8:00pm Break
8:30pm Continuation of theme 3, 4 and 5
9:15pm Q&A
9:45pm Shuttle departs for Porte d'Auteuil in Paris
Film duration: 60 minutes. Dutch spoken (English subtitles).

Sunday September 10th, 2023
Wall House #2 in Groningen, The Netherlands at Open Monument Day.
Admission is €7.50 (including a drink).

Sunday June 25th, 2023
Three Utrecht Icons in One Day: Rietveld Day
The theme of Rietveld Day 2023 was museum homes; designed by pioneers who were far ahead of their time and who have been of great importance to the city. In celebration of Gerrit Rietveld's 135th birthday, the Rietveld Schröder House (1924), the Van Ravesteyn House (1933) and the Van Schijndel House (1992) opened their doors for an open house from 11 am to 4 pm. In addition, the thematic film Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House was screened in the garden room of Centraal Museum.
Follow this link for more information about the Rietveld Day program.

Saturday June 17th, 2023
Rietveld Pavilion Amersfoort, The Netherlands
3.30pm-5pm (at Architecture Day) with an exclusive visit to a private structuralist home, designed by structuralist architect Leo Heijdenrijk and completed in 1973.
Where: Rietveld Pavilion, Zonnehof 8, Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Start film 3:30pm - 5:00pm CEST
Start house visit Uilenspiegelstraat with film : 2:00pm-4:45pm CEST
Film ticket €7,50
Combi ticket €10,00

Thursday January 26th, 2023 - Museum Het Schip, Amsterdam
Thursday November 24th, 2022 - Museum Het Schip, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, organized in partnerhip with Museum Het Schip.
Thursday October 13th, 2022 - Derde Ambachtsschool, The Hague, The Netherlands, organized in partnerhip with Hendrick de Keyser Monuments.

Posted September 20th, 2022, updated April 17th, 2025