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‘Slapstick Architecture’: Oliver Wainwright’s struggle to find meaning in the new Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

2021-11-16T12:50:00-05:00

The storage has been forced to fit the quirks of the building, rather than the other way around, which seems like an odd way to design an art store.

The Guardian critic interviewed MVRDV frontman Winy Maas to find out if the inspiration for Rotterdam's new open storage museum came from a €3.99 salad bowl, noting its mirrored exterior affects the opposite of its intended invisibility and is also rather difficult to clean.

“The architects’ ambition was to create a building that ‘seems to disappear into its surroundings’ — but a 13-storey mirrorball does anything but,” he wrote. “There is a freeport here, too, where dealers can store art without paying tax. Such commercial aspects have helped to make the project stack up, along with €42m raised from private sources, but the hefty ticket price seems at odds with so much of the building being a corporate showcase to burnish big brands.”

Previously on Archinect: MVRDV's Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is finally open in Rotterdam

MVRDV's Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is finally open in Rotterdam

2021-11-08T12:13:00-05:00

The wait has ended for the revamped Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The world’s first publicly accessible art storage depot officially opened to the public over the weekend after a five-year-long construction period led by MVRDV.

Visitors will now be able to interact with over 151,000 pieces of art housed by the 167,000-square-foot facility, which also features a Birch-lined rooftop garden and viewable conservation areas giving them behind-the-scenes views of the museum’s staff working across five distinct climate-controlled zones.

Image © Ossip van Duivenbode/MVRDV

The unique, 1,664-mirrored-panel bowl design made waves online and has been among the most highly-anticipated museum projects in recent memory since being announced in 2013. The project was initiated by the museum after repeated flooding of its previous storage facility prompted officials to reimagine how they might be able to use an upgrade to expand the relatively small amount of its collection that was vie...

The world's first publicly accessibly art depot designed by MVRDV opening in 99 days

2021-07-30T16:30:00-04:00

Today marks 99 days until the MVRDV-designed Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen opens its doors in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Upon opening on November 6th, the building will be the world’s first publicly accessible art depot, making its entire art collection of 151,000 works available to see.

The depot breaks from tradition as museums worldwide usually only display six to ten percent of their collections at any given time with the rest being in storage. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen makes all of its works accessible and makes visible the processes behind preservation and restoration, which are normally closed off to the public.

The museum’s collection was formerly housed in the basement of the adjacent Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen but was increasingly emptied in 2015 due to unsafe, overcrowded, and dated conditions. The art was distributed and stored in five external depots in the Netherlands and abroad. Under the same roof again, the works are now saf...

MVRDV completes mirror-clad art depot in Rotterdam

2020-09-28T12:15:00-04:00

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the MVRDV-design publicly accessible art depot, has a completed construction. Located in Rotterdam's Museumpark, the depot offers a unique experience for museum goers in the form of a "sturdy" engine room where the complete collection 151,000 objects is made accessible to the public. Additionally, the depot includes a restaurant and rooftop forest.

Images: © Ossip van Duivenbode.

"With this construction completion, now the museum and the users can start to inhabit the building and fill its spaces with priceless art," said Winy Maas, founding partner of MVRDV in a statement. "Although it will take another year before the real opening, the completion is a special moment for all: the museum, the city of Rotterdam, Stichting De Verre Bergen and of course for the contractor BAM, the many construction workers and subcontractors who persisted during the difficult circumstances we all faced due to the pandemic. The depot design is daring, and its success comes f...

Rooftop trees planted at MVRDV's Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

2020-04-13T13:44:00-04:00

Tree planting has commenced at MVRDV's Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the anticipated art depot that will feature exhibition falls, a sculpture roof garden and restaurant, and expansive public grounds.

Photo by Fred Ernst. Courtesy of MVRDV.

As part of the tree installation, 75 large birches will be lifted 35 meters to the roof of the depot. The rooftop forest was designed in collaboration with MTD landschapsarchitecten from Den Bosch. The tree species are Betula pubescens, a soft birch that grows to ten meters and is said to be resistant to varying weather conditions.

Photo by Arjen Ketting. Courtesy of MVRDV.

Expected to remain standing for several decades, the trees will be maintained via a special watering system to ensure the soil will never dry out.

MVRDV’s shiny Collection Building for Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam

2014-03-10T17:17:00-04:00

MVRDV has the winning proposal to design the Collection Building for the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The bowl-like public art depot will let the public see the ins and outs of the museum's daily activities, and also let private art collectors store their own collections in ideal museum conditions. Completion of the project is expected in 2017.

Diagrams:

Find out more on Bustler.