Hidden for decades until today, the extensive collection of Vitra—one of the most influential names in modern furniture design—is now on public display in a brand new building designed by Herzog & de Meuron: Schaudepot.
As the latest addition to the Vitra campus, Schaudepot’s front yard connects it to its neighbors, Zaha Hadid’s Fire Station and Álvaro Siza’s factory buildings. From the front, it appears monolithic and earthen, its brick exterior and windowless facade giving away little of the impressive collection of over 20,000 objects inside. In addition to serving as a conservational space for “key objects” in Vitra’s collection, Schaudepot also includes a new cafe and shop, both accessible by the building’s south end through a new public entry point into the campus.
Inside, a window between the main hall and lower ground (where the collection resides) allows visitors to sneak a peek of repository, and its crowning jewel: “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.” Additional, temporary exhibitions will offer alternative looks at the collection.
Check out the image gallery below for more shots inside Schaudepot.
1 Comment
Exterior is very de chirico
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