Han Schröder facts for kids

The Schröder House in Utrecht where Han Schröder lived as a child and later helped to restore as supervising architect

Johanna Erna Else Schröder (born July 16, 1918, in Utrecht, died March 20, 1992, in Amsterdam) was a Dutch architect and teacher. She was one of the first women to work as an architect in the Netherlands. Later, she opened her own company in Amsterdam. This company focused on architecture and interior design. In 1963, she moved to the United States. There, she taught interior design at several universities. These included Adelphi University, Parsons School of Design, New York Institute of Technology, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Early Life and Learning

Han Schröder grew up in the famous Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht, Netherlands. She lived there with her mother, Truus Schröder-Schräder, who was also an interior designer. The house was special because it had walls that could move. Gerrit Rietveld, a famous architect, designed it in 1924. He became a good friend and a big influence on Han's future work. Han said that the moving walls made the house "dynamically flexible." She believed a house should not just be a series of small boxes.

When she was a teenager, Han helped design furniture. She worked with both Rietveld and Gerard van de Groenekan. In 1936, she went to the Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland. She finished her architecture studies there in 1940.

A Career in Architecture

Kromme Waal 23 and 24, Amsterdam. Han lived here with her sister Marianne and a friend, Cora de Castro.

During World War II, Han Schröder worked for the Red Cross in Portugal and the United Kingdom. In 1946, she came back to the Netherlands. She worked at Amsterdam's Modern Art Museum until 1949. After that, she joined Rietveld's architecture firm. There, she worked on many projects. These included homes, schools, art shows, and the Sonsbeek Sculpture Pavilion.

In 1954, Han Schröder started her own architecture office in Amsterdam. At that time, only two women were registered architects in the Netherlands. About 3,000 men were registered. This shows how rare it was for women to be architects then. Some of her important designs include the Gaastra House in Zeist. She also designed a center for children in Ellecom. Another project was an auditorium for the Social Work Academy. She also created the Kessler House, a place for steel workers to relax.

In 1962, Schröder designed a special housing complex. It was for retired, single nurses in Austerlitz, a Dutch village. The homes were low-cost and used small spaces very well, thanks to moving walls. This project became very popular. Queen Juliana herself opened it.

After moving to the United States in 1963, Han Schröder worked for a few architecture companies in California. Then, she started teaching in New York. She taught interior design at Adelphi University and the Parsons School of Design. Later, she became a professor at the New York Institute of Technology.

From 1972 to 1987, Han was in charge of restoring the Schröder House in Utrecht. This house is now a museum. Two of her designs are part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. From 1981, she taught at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. She retired in 1988 as a professor emerita. After retiring, Schröder moved back to the Netherlands.

Han Schröder passed away in March 1992 in Amsterdam.

Images for kids

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  The Schröder House in Utrecht where Han Schröder lived as a child and later helped to restore as supervising architect

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  Kromme Waal 23 and 24, Amsterdam. Han lived here with her sister Marianne and a friend, Cora de Castro.

See also

In Spanish: Han Schröder para niños