Museum Voorlinden
It was hard to imagine what the next step could be for a director of one of the world’s most prestigious national museums. But the art historian and former head of the Rijksmuseum, Wim Pijbes, surprised us with his role as general director of Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, the new home of Dutch businessman and avid collector Joop van Caldenborgh’s private art collection.
‘My dream is to combine nature and art in a museum,’ says Pijbes and the 40-hectare estate of Voorlinden is the answer to his vision. The new museum building is designed by Rotterdam-based architecture studio Kraaijvanger and sits in a field bordering the forest; a long sand-coloured building that incorporates 6,700 sq m of exhibition and activity space.
‘It’s a symmetrical, single-level space with white walls and many square rooms,’ says Pijbes, ‘It’s a very clear, modern-style building. Mr van Caldenborgh’s idea was not to have a star architect – the arts always come first.’ He adds, ‘What a museum needs are walls, light and proper spaces. And yet the building is not anonymous – it has colour, form, texture – everything is just pure and beautiful. It’s truly a building that is meant to serve the arts. It is haute-couture architecture, truly made to measure.’
The façades are made from alternating glass and stone, the transparency connecting the inside and outside, bringing the art of nature into the exhibition space. The building sits atop a plinth made from the same stone. An ingeniously constructed roof is supported by a white steel colonnade that surrounds the building. Paradoxically, perhaps, this modern structure includes several classical references, from its symmetrical presentation to its grid-savvy proportions, the front portico to the Greek temple-style columns on one side.
The museum comprises 20 galleries, each featuring a generous 5.3m-high ceiling. More than 115,000 diagonal ducts are arranged over the glass roof, allowing the bright light of the Dutch coast to fill the building. Additional indirect LED lighting ensures there is always optimum light for the artworks, whatever the time or weather.
www.wallpaper.com/architecture/inside-the-newly-opened-mu...
Museum Voorlinden
It was hard to imagine what the next step could be for a director of one of the world’s most prestigious national museums. But the art historian and former head of the Rijksmuseum, Wim Pijbes, surprised us with his role as general director of Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, the new home of Dutch businessman and avid collector Joop van Caldenborgh’s private art collection.
‘My dream is to combine nature and art in a museum,’ says Pijbes and the 40-hectare estate of Voorlinden is the answer to his vision. The new museum building is designed by Rotterdam-based architecture studio Kraaijvanger and sits in a field bordering the forest; a long sand-coloured building that incorporates 6,700 sq m of exhibition and activity space.
‘It’s a symmetrical, single-level space with white walls and many square rooms,’ says Pijbes, ‘It’s a very clear, modern-style building. Mr van Caldenborgh’s idea was not to have a star architect – the arts always come first.’ He adds, ‘What a museum needs are walls, light and proper spaces. And yet the building is not anonymous – it has colour, form, texture – everything is just pure and beautiful. It’s truly a building that is meant to serve the arts. It is haute-couture architecture, truly made to measure.’
The façades are made from alternating glass and stone, the transparency connecting the inside and outside, bringing the art of nature into the exhibition space. The building sits atop a plinth made from the same stone. An ingeniously constructed roof is supported by a white steel colonnade that surrounds the building. Paradoxically, perhaps, this modern structure includes several classical references, from its symmetrical presentation to its grid-savvy proportions, the front portico to the Greek temple-style columns on one side.
The museum comprises 20 galleries, each featuring a generous 5.3m-high ceiling. More than 115,000 diagonal ducts are arranged over the glass roof, allowing the bright light of the Dutch coast to fill the building. Additional indirect LED lighting ensures there is always optimum light for the artworks, whatever the time or weather.
www.wallpaper.com/architecture/inside-the-newly-opened-mu...