Rietveld & Curacao

Between 1949 and 1960 Gerrit Rietveld made six designs for buildings and interiors on the island of Curaçao. In each case the doctor Chris Engels was involved, either as the client or as a consultant. Aside from his medical practice, Engels was a poet and a painter. A firm friendship would grow between the two men. In Rietveld & Curaçao, Jan de Heer documents in the greatest detail Rietveld's entire body of work in Curaçao, culminating in the Monsignor Verriet Institute. He also sheds light on the remarkable relationship between Rietveld and Engels. Rietveld & Curaçao places Rietveld's projects within the island's cultural and political development. Rietveld managed to incorporate the climatological conditions of Curaçao in his designs to great effect. He turned the trade winds to his advantage in the Verriet Institute and also in the Richardus House; he introduced adjustable shutters instead of fixed walls; and he used large roof overhangs to keep out the direct glare of the sun. In the Verriet Institute he turned the roof into one large rain gutter to catch the precious rainwater. It is for these reasons that Rietveld's designs have remained an example to Curaçaoan architectural practice to this day.