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Vitra Design Museum opened Vitra Schaudepot by Herzog & De Meuron in Germany

Germany Architecture News - Jun 04, 2016 - 19:18   30906 views

Basel-based architects Herzog & de Meuron's new building the 'Vitra Schaudepot' opened on the Vitra Campus on June 3, 2016The Schaudepot provides the Vitra Design Museum with a venue for presenting key objects from its extensive collection to the public, complemented by a new café and a shop. 

In this context, a second entry point to will be created to the Vitra Campus, enhancing its connections to the cities of Basel and Weil am Rhein. See also our latest Video dedicated to 'Vitra Furniture Factory' within the scope of Life&Architecture Series.

Exterior View Vitra Schaudepot, Herzog & de Meuron, 2015. Image © Vitra Design Museum, Julien Lanoo

The collection of the Vitra Design Museum ranks among the most important holdings of furniture design worldwide. It contains some 7000 pieces of furniture, a vast assemblage of lighting objects and numerous archives, as well as the estates of such designers as Charles & Ray Eames, Verner Panton and Alexander Girard. 

Vitra Schaudepot exterior. Exterior view Schaudepot, view from the newly created second entry to the Vitra Campus. Image © Vitra Design Museum, Julien Lanoo

Although the main museum building by Frank Gehry from 1989 was originally conceived to house the collection, the museum utilises the space to stage major tempo- rary exhibitions. To date, the museum’s collection has never been on permanent display. 

Vitra Design Museum opened Vitra Schaudepot by Herzog & De Meuron in Germany

Interior view Vitra Schaudepot, Erdgeschoss / Ground Floor. Image © Vitra Design Museum, Julien Lanoo

The Basel-based architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron has now created a new structure for the museum in which the collection will be exhibited and communicated to the public. The centrepiece of the Schaudepot is a permanent exhibition of more than 400 key pieces of modern furniture design from 1800 to the present. The objects shown include early bentwood furniture, icons of Classical Modernism by Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto and Gerrit Rietveld, along with colourful plastic objects from the Pop era and recent designs produced with a 3D printer. 

Vitra Schaudepot Shop. Miniatures, Publications. Image © Mark Niedermann, Vitra

This presentation will be complemented by smaller temporary exhibitions on themes related to the collection, beginning with a look at the 'Radical Design' movement of the 1960s. On the lower ground level, the Schaudepot offers insights into additional focal points of the collection, such as Scandinavian and Italian design, the lighting collection and the estate of Charles and Ray Eames. 

''The vitra campus is characterized by its architectural diversity, which reflects rolf fehlbaun’s insatiable curiosity and love for contemporary architecture and design. we have been able to contricute two buildings. first the vitrahaus, iconic and visible from afar, which opened in 2010, and now the schaudepot, which bears practically no traces of its makers. It was in fact originally planned as an underground warehouse, without any form of architectural expression. together with rolf fehlbaum, however, we finally opted for an archetipical architecture that reveals little of its origins: its period or the architects behind it'' said Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, Founding partners, Herzog & de Meuron.

Vitra Design Museum opened Vitra Schaudepot by Herzog & De Meuron in Germany

Detail Sammlung Vitra Design Museum. Image © Vitra Design Museum, Florian Boehm

Vitra Schaudepot exhibition. Image © Mark Niedermann, Vitra Design Museum

Vitra Schaudepot exhibition. Image © Mark Niedermann, Vitra Design Museum

This presentation will be complemented by smaller temporary exhibitions on themes related to the collection, beginning with a look at the ''Radical Design'' movement of the 1960s. On the lower ground level, the Schaudepot offers insights into additional focal points of the collection, such as Scandinavian and Italian design, the lighting collection and the estate of Charles and Ray Eames. 

Vitra Schaudepot exhibition. Image © Mark Niedermann, Vitra Design Museum

Vitra Schaudepot exhibition. Image © Mark Niedermann, Vitra Design Museum

With the opening of the Schaudepot, the Vitra Design Museum is greatly expanding its exhibition space and its programme. The museum building by Frank Gehry will continue to be used for the large-scale temporary exhibitions and the Vitra Design Museum Gallery will show smaller, experi- mental projects, while the Schaudepot will display the permanent exhibition as well as one temporary exhibition. 

Vitra Schaudepot Exhibition. Image © Mark Niedermann, Vitra Design Museum,  exhibition view of main hall.

All of the museum’s exhibition venues are open daily from 10 am to 6 pm. The exhibitions are complemented by a diverse programme of guided tours, discussions, workshops and other events. Once in operation, the Schaudepot will be one of the world’s largest permanent exhibitions and research facilities on modern furniture design. 

Vitra Schaudepot Exhibition. Image © Mark Niedermann, Vitra Design Museum, exhibition view of main hall

Vitra Schaudepot Exhibition. Image © Mark Niedermann, Vitra Design Museum, exhibition view of main hall

Vitra Schaudepot Exhibition. Image © Mark Niedermann, Vitra Design Museum, exhibition view of main hall

Pierre de Meuron, Rolf Fehlbaum (Chairman Emeritus of Vitra) and Jacques Herzog, and  talked about the Schaudepot as a new place for design on the Vitra Campus. Image © Vitra Design Museum

Project Facts

Architects: herzog & de meuron, basel

Interior design: dieter thiel, basel

Curatorial concept: mateo kries, janna lipsky

Project management: marc zehntner

Head of collection: susanne graner

Curators of collection: serge mauduit, heng zhi

Content coordination: jolanthe kugler

Graphics: onlab, berlin

Total floor space of schaudepot: approx 1,600 sqm

Objects in permanent exhibition: approx. 410

Exhibitions per year: 1 permanent exhibition, 3 temporary exhibitions

Top Image: Vitra Campus - Umgebungsbild Vitra Schaudepot. Image © Vitra

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