Vitra Design Museum Weil am Rhein Germany
I'm a big fan of beautiful things. That's why I love going to museums, seeing art, good architecture, new places and looking at designs. It was really great to spend a day here since Vitra Campus has buildings that are both design, exhibition and a kind of museum.
The location of Vitra Design Campus is exactly between Switzerland, Germany and France. This campus, where modernism and art come together in the green texture of the town of Weil am Rhein in the south of Germany, is an inspiring place.
Vitra Design Campus
Vitra Design has a number of buildings designed by world-famous architects on the campus. The geometric lines of the 'Feuerwehrhaus' building, written by Iraqi Zaha Hadid, who passed away at a very early age, and Frank Gehry's 'Factory Building' right next to it are truly eye-catching with their changing perspectives. In fact, while reading about the campus, I read a beautiful quote from an architectural critic; He stated that since the Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart in 1927, a group of buildings designed by the most distinguished architects of the western world have never been gathered anywhere until the Vitra Campus. (*Of course, I will write about the Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart separately. But briefly, in 1927, 17 architects who wanted to change city life created a bluepoint for modern architecture and sought an answer to the question 'How to live')
Vitra Design Campus is an experience area full of not only architecture and art but also creativity. Every corner of the campus is full of design and aesthetics. Even though we went on a rainy day, we felt that our souls were as full as our stomachs while walking on campus, getting lost among the works of art or sitting in the cafe.
I would like to briefly tell you about the buildings in Vitra Design Campus that we were able to visit, but before that I have two notes: first, if you come with an electric vehicle, there is a charging station :) and second, please take your umbrella with you, just in case :)
VitraHaus - Herzog & de Meuron, 2010
One of the most striking buildings of the campus is VitraHaus, which achieves a wonderful harmony between architecture and nature at the entrance. When you look at this structure, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, from the outside, you see the boxes dancing inside each other. A different living space and a different atmosphere is created inside each box. There are exhibition areas, both aesthetic and functional furniture, a shop with beautiful designs that you won't want to leave for a long time, and a cafe-restaurant with wonderful coffee and food. You can experience the marvelous design furniture in VitraHaus' interior and watch the green view of the town from the terrace on the top floor.
Vitra Museum
Founded in 1989 by Vitra's CEO Rolf Fehlbaum, this museum is Frank Gehry's first building in Europe. The purpose of the museum's establishment is; It was established as a foundation dedicated to the research and dissemination of design and architecture. But later, it underwent a functional change and was turned into an area with valuable temporary exhibitions in order to reach and visit more people. In my opinion, Vitra Design Museum's most iconic architecture is truly a center of attraction with its structure characterized by striking angles and flowing forms. In this museum, which hosts rotating exhibitions of both well-known and new talents, we had the opportunity to visit Iwan Bann's Moments in Architecture exhibition. In addition to the architectural photographs of many famous buildings, we witnessed the lives of different geographies from all over the world with photographs and videos. Visiting this museum, where art, technology and culture come together, provides inspiration about the ever-evolving world of design and offers a truly different spatial experience.
Vitra Design Museum, Frank Gehry, 1989
Vitra Schaudepot, which is considered to be part of the Vitra Design Museum designed by Herzog & de Meuron; It was designed with a monolithic volume and brick facade, constructed with solid walls and a simple gable roof. It is written that there are more than 20,000 objects inside this building, which was designed with a modern and minimalist architectural approach. Exhibitions at Vitra Schaudepot showcase a selection of more than 400 key pieces of modern furniture design from the 1800s to the present, including vintage wooden furniture, iconic modernist pieces by Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto and Gerrit Rietveld, and contemporary 3D designs.
The Schaudepot Laboratory in the basement of the building sheds light on the materials and processes used in the design. With the large windows on this floor, you can also see the storage area that contains most of the collection that is not on display.
Vitra Schaudepot, Herzog & de Meuron, 2016
If you really want to visit this architectural base in a qualified way, I strongly recommend you to join a guided architectural tour. I am attaching the map of the area below, where you can see the area in detail and organize your visit plan.
Wishing you inspiring time,
Cheers,
Betty.
