Catatina De Almeida Brito, MVRDV reinvent the museum experience in Rotterdam with Collection Building, Wallpaper*, 17 December 2015
Rotterdam based architects MVRDV are working on a building that is neither a museum nor an art storage facility; rather a typology that merges the two. The Collection Building is a new type of cultural venue, where visitors are taken through a museum’s art collection, while it is being exhibited within state-of-the-art conservation spaces.
The project is planned as an extension of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, located in Rotterdam’s well known Museumpark cultural district.
The centuries-old establishment currently keeps its art collection in storage in the museum’s basement, but it has been in constant danger of flooding. MVRDV’s response lies in the design of a structure that acts as an art depot that is open to the public, located only a few metres from its predecessor. Sanne van der Burgh, the project leader, compares it to a ‘backstage’ or a ‘working’ museum experience.
