Robert van 't Hoff (November 5, 1887 – April 25, 1979), born Robbert van 't Hoff, was a Dutch
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
designer. His ''Villa Henny'', designed in 1914, was one of the earliest
modernist houses and one of the first to be built out of
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
. From 1917 he was an influential member of the ''
De Stijl
De Stijl (, ; 'The Style') was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 by a group of artists and architects based in Leiden (Theo van Doesburg, Jacobus Oud, J.J.P. Oud), Voorburg (Vilmos Huszár, Jan Wils) and Laren, North Holland, Laren (Piet Mo ...
'' movement.
Although he was born to a comfortable middle-class background, married a wealthy heiress, and for a while was able to subsidise the publication of the ''De Stijl'' journal, van 't Hoff was a member of the
Communist Party of the Netherlands in the years following
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Following the failure of
Pieter Jelles Troelstra's call for a socialist revolution in the Netherlands in 1919, van 't Hoff split from ''De Stijls founder
Theo van Doesburg and withdrew from artistic activity, declaring himself an "ex-architect" in 1922, and spending much of the rest of his life promoting experimental
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
communities.
Life
Early life and education
Van 't Hoff was born in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, the son of an eminent
bacteriologist, and grew up in comfortable and cultured middle class circumstances. His mother had an interest in the visual arts and was a friend of the painter
Willem Witsen (Willem Arnoldus Witsen), while his father was a friend of the psychiatrist
Frederik van Eeden. From 1898 Robert accompanied his parents on visits to van Eeden's utopian ''Walden'' commune near
Bussum
Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands near Hilversum. Since 2016, Bussum has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren.
Bussum had a ...
.
The family moved to
Bilthoven in 1904. The following year Robert assisted with the building of a house for one of his aunts and decided to train as an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
.
In 1906, on the advice of an architect friend of his father's,
van 't Hoff travelled to England to study architecture at the
Birmingham School of Art, which had been a major centre of the
Arts and Crafts Movement since its reorganisation by
Edward R. Taylor in the 1880s. Studying under
William Bidlake, he came under the influence of the theories of
William Lethaby and the work of the
Glasgow School,
and worked in the progressive architectural practice of
Herbert Tudor Buckland.
From 1911 to 1914 van 't Hoff studied at the
Architectural Association in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where he became a friend of the
cubist and
futurist painter
David Bomberg and through him became acquainted with the work of the avant-garde
Omega Workshops.
Early career
Van 't Hoff's first built works were designed while he was still based in England. ''Løvdalla'' – a house built for his parents in
Huis ter Heide near
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
and completed in 1911 – featured an informal cluster of gables reminiscent of some of Buckland's work in
Edgbaston, while ''
De Zaaier'' was a model farmhouse built in
Lunteren and completed in 1912, with a more distinctively Dutch design.
Van 't Hoff's third house, built for the artist
Augustus John at 28
Mallord Street,
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...
, after the two met by chance in the pub, was both designed and built in 1913.
In 1913 van 't Hoff was given a copy of a German translation of
Frank Lloyd Wright's
Wasmuth Portfolio by his father.
This made a profound impression and in June 1914 he travelled to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to see Wright's work in person, visiting the
Unity Temple,
Taliesin,
Midway Gardens, the
Larkin Administration Building and Wright's suburban houses in
Oak Park, Illinois. Van 't Hoff and Wright discussed collaborating on a project for an
art gallery on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
,
New York that van 't Hoff had become involved with through his relationship with
Augustus John, but the project did not progress and van 't Hoff returned to Europe.
Van 't Hoff's first work on returning from the United States was the ''Villa Verloop'' – a summer house in Huis ter Heide whose design bore the unmistakable influence of Wright's
Prairie Houses. More remarkable however was his next work – the ''Villa Henny'' – which was a highly idealistic and experimental house in both design and execution. One of the earliest houses to be built entirely out of
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
, the ''Villa Henny'' made full use of the aesthetic freedom this presented with a flat roof, overhangs, receding walls and a highly geometrical outline that presented an unambiguously modern profile compared to the rustic naturalism of his earlier designs. The ''Villa Henny'' established van 't Hoff with the international avant-garde as a major figure in the emerging
modern movement, gaining an influential and appreciative review from the architect
Huib Hoste in ''
De Telegraaf'' and attracting the attention of the emerging ''
De Stijl
De Stijl (, ; 'The Style') was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 by a group of artists and architects based in Leiden (Theo van Doesburg, Jacobus Oud, J.J.P. Oud), Voorburg (Vilmos Huszár, Jan Wils) and Laren, North Holland, Laren (Piet Mo ...
'' group.
''De Stijl''
Van 't Hoff probably met ''
De Stijl
De Stijl (, ; 'The Style') was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 by a group of artists and architects based in Leiden (Theo van Doesburg, Jacobus Oud, J.J.P. Oud), Voorburg (Vilmos Huszár, Jan Wils) and Laren, North Holland, Laren (Piet Mo ...
'' founder
Theo van Doesburg some time in mid-1917. Their radical views on art and society had a natural affinity and by the end of the year van 't Hoff was in regular correspondence with van Doesburg and other members of the movement including
Vilmos Huszár and
J. J. P. Oud. Over the next two years he was to write five articles for the ''De Stijl'' journal – three radical essays on the future of architecture and two critical pieces on buildings by
Jan Wils and
Antonio Sant' Elia.
Van 't Hoff went on to support the journal financially after van Doesburg split from its original publisher over his insistence on installing a separate architecture editor.
The range of van 't Hoff's design work also broadened around this time: he published designs for
banister posts and
chair
A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
s, and in 1918 designed a
houseboat, which he christened ''De Stijl'' and in which he and his wife lived shortly after their marriage in July. This was conceived as an attempt to "further the new direction" and he was involved in every aspect of the interior and exterior design including the furniture and fittings. Van 't Hoff's preference for
Bart van der Leck over van Doesburg for the painting of the interior was the first sign of tension between the two, but a commission for van Doesburg from van 't Hoff for a colour scheme for the interior of a house he was designing for the pacifist and anarchist
Bartholomeus (Bart) de Ligt in
Lage Vuursche suggested that there was no serious split.
During 1918 and 1919 van 't Hoff's ideological stance hardened in the light of the recent
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
. His design work at this time moved away from private houses and consisted largely of unrealised designs for prefabricated mass housing in association with the
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
architect
P. J. C. Klaarhamer. In 1919 he joined the
Communist Party of the Netherlands and was active in arranging an exchange programme with artists in the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, making his political stance clear in a letter to fellow communist
Chris Beekman: "I myself am convinced we will get a Soviet government, albeit that the transition will take a toll of some of our lives".
Van 't Hoff's attempts to influence the ''De Stijl'' group in a more avowedly political direction met with frustration, however. The first ''De Stijl'' manifesto, published in November 1918, was interpreted by most of the group's members as a largely artistic statement, rather than the revolutionary document van 't Hoff sought. Van't Hoff criticised Van Doesburg in the summer of 1919 for exhibiting individually rather than maintaining an exclusive commitment to the ''De Stijl'' collective. In October 1919 Van Doesburg failed to circulate a petition demanding free postal interchange with the Soviet Union that had been signed by leading Dutch artists and designers and this prompted van 't Hoff to make a final and decisively split from both ''De Stijl'' and van Doesburg, remarking that "In Russia they execute such people".
Later life
Disillusioned with the revolutionary potential of the artistic avant-garde, van 't Hoff sold his houseboat and moved to
Laren in
North Holland
North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...
in 1920, where he built two small houses for himself and his parents that were largely devoid of the abstract aesthetic ambitions of his earlier works – one even had a thatched roof. Although these featured some furniture and interior design work by
Beekman and
Rietveld, van 't Hoff had distanced himself from his earlier artistic lifestyle. The tenth anniversary issue of ''
De Stijl
De Stijl (, ; 'The Style') was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 by a group of artists and architects based in Leiden (Theo van Doesburg, Jacobus Oud, J.J.P. Oud), Voorburg (Vilmos Huszár, Jan Wils) and Laren, North Holland, Laren (Piet Mo ...
'' featured an open letter signed "Robert Van. ('t Hoff)., ex-architect."
In 1922 van 't Hoff moved to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
with his family, spending most of the following five years promoting his
communist and
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
ideas in England and frequenting the
British Museum Reading Room. In 1926 he published an anonymously authored social and political manifesto called ''Abolition'', in which he called for a mass uprising. In 1928 he was invited by the American radical philanthropist
Charles Garland to redesign the buildings on his utopian commune in
Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. The two disagreed over the proposed designs, however, and within nine months the van 't Hoff family had returned to
Laren.
Van 't Hoff retained some links with ''De Stijl'' during this period – continuing his correspondence with
J. J. P. Oud, meeting
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1931 and financing the final issue of the ''De Stijl'' journal in 1932.
The ill health of their daughter led the van 't Hoffs to move to
Davos in Switzerland in 1931, but in 1937 they returned to England to settle permanently in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
.
The
bombing of Coventry in 1940 profoundly touched van 't Hoff, who knew the city from his days studying in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
and designed a large communal housing association building in the hope that the city could be rebuilt in accordance with his progressive ideals. In general, however, his last years in England were marked by increasing reclusiveness.
The architect realised his last work in New Milton, (Hampshire, U.K.). He designed an interior for his study in his own house in 1960. The atmosphere in the study was very similar to the interior of the houseboat De Stijl (1917). When the house was demolished in 2006, this interior was donated to the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo (The Netherlands) by Van 't Hoff's daughter Megan.
[Broekhuizen, D. (ed.), ''Robert van 't Hoff. Architect of a new Society'', Rotterdam: NAi publishers 2010. ()]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoff, Robert Van T
Constructivist architects
Modernist architects
1887 births
1979 deaths
Dutch furniture designers
De Stijl
Architects from Rotterdam
20th-century Dutch architects
20th-century Dutch artists
Alumni of the Birmingham School of Art