De kleur lost de architectonische ruimte op

In 1921–22 the architect C.R. de Boer built a row of sixteen small family homes on the Torenstraat in his hometown of Drachten with an agricultural winter school on the other side of the street. For this project De Boer enlisted the help of Theo van Doesburg, who was the founder of the geometric-abstract periodical De Stijl. Van Doesburg made detailed design drawings in colour for both interior and exterior of the buildings.

De Boer 'wanted these houses to have dynamic, cheerful, fresh, welcoming façades, so that the street, which had buildings on both sides, would not become monotonous.’ With hindsight the collaboration with De Boer proved to be a turning point for Van Doesburg, who developed a completely novel idea about the relationship between the pictorial and the architectonic. During this period Van Doesburg was living mostly in Weimar, where he was trying to stimulate interest in his ideas at the Bauhaus.

The letters to De Boer brought together in this volume provide an almost step-by-step account of this crucial period in Van Doesburg’s life and show us how his ideas on colour in architecture evolved. Additional technical research reveals to what extent the buildings realised by De Boer deviate from Van Doesburg’s theory. There is a comprehensive introduction which puts Van Doesburg’s ideas into context.