take a look inside the newly opened depot boijmans van beuningen in rotterdam

MVRDV’s depot boijmans van beuningen OPENS TO THE PUBLIC

on saturday, november 6th 2021, the world’s first publicly accessible art depot opened its doors to the public in rotterdam. the mirrored, bowl-shaped building designed by MVRDV houses a collection of 151,000 artworks that took 172 years to collect.

the seven storey depot is situated next to museum boijmans van beuningen in rotterdam’s museumpark. MVRDV’s founding partner winy maas said ahead of the opening,‘our ambition was to give the museumpark a new dimension, and to bring different target groups, from schoolchildren to feyenoord fans, into contact with the boijmans collection in an innovative way. we hope to have added a new work of art to rotterdam’s already rich architecture collection.’

the depot’s atrium with crisscrossing staircases and glass display cases

images © ossip van duivenbode (unless stated otherwise)

the bowl-like form, which curves upwards with a 10-meter overhang, was designed by MVRDV to achieve a small footprint. 6,609 sqm of glass subdivided into 1,664 mirrored panels clad the façade in a reflective skin while a rooftop forest and cross-shaped restaurant top the 39.5-meter tall building. 

inside, a soaring 40-meter-tall atrium with crisscrossing staircases takes center stage. the atrium is filled with artwork in floating display cases, which have been created by artist marieke van diemen. boijmans has also collaborated with artist and architect john körmeling, who designed the entrance hall lighting and interiors on the ground floor. visual artist pipilotti rist created a colorful light installation to illuminate the exterior of the building at night.

artist marieke van diemen designed the floating display cases

EXPLORE THOUSANDS OF ARTWORKS UNDER ONE ROOF

unlike most museums, the artwork of depot boijmans van beuningen is organized not by art history periods, but by size and climate requirements across five different climate zones, meaning there’s no defined path to explore the extensive collection. visitors can use the depot app while they browse to access the story behind each piece and even save the ones they like the most in their own collection. works include ‘untitled (manhole)’ by maurizio cattelan and olafur eliasson‘s ‘notion motion’, the largest object in the collection.

depot boijmans van beuningen offers art lovers the chance to glimpse behind the scenes and take a look inside four restoration studios that are on open view. the program also contains a storage compartment, which can be viewed with a guide, and 1,900 sqm of space that can be rented out for private and corporate collections.

‘untitled (manhole)’ by maurizio cattelan

image © aad hoogendoorn

and once visitors have browsed through the immense collection, they can head to the rooftop restaurant ‘renilde’ or take a walk around the rooftop forest and enjoy views over the city. 

‘the depot is a building that makes many people happy; skaters have their own place outside that will hopefully stay, while passersby try to figure out the best place to stand to take a good selfie. as an architect, I hope that visitors will soon enjoy the interior, the rooftop forest, and the experience of being in direct contact with the art without the mediation of a curator,’  continued maas.

see designboom’s previous coverage of depot boijmans van beuningen here and here. 

view of the rooftop restaurant, forest, and solar panels

pipilotti rist created the colorful light installation outside

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image © aad hoogendoorn

image © aad hoogendoorn

image © aad hoogendoorn

 

 

 

image © rob becker

image © rob becker

 

 

 

 

 

 

project info:

name: depot boijmans van beuningen 

location: rotterdam, netherlands

year: 2021

client: museum boijmans van beuningen, de verre bergen foundation, municipality of rotterdam

size and program: 15,000sqm – accessible storage facility for art and design, restaurant, public space

architecture: MVRDV

principal in charge: winy maas

partner: fokke moerel

project team: sanne van der burgh, arjen ketting, fedor bron, gerard heerink, elien deceuninck, jason slabbynck, rico van de gevel, marjolein marijnissen, remco de haan

competition team: sanne van der burgh, marta pozo, gerard heerink, elien deceuninck, saimon gomez idiakez, jose ignacio velasco martin, jason slabbynck, mariya gyaurova, lukasz brzozowski

strategy & development: jan knikker, irene start
visualization: antonio luca coco, matteo artico, carlo cattó
copyright: MVRDV 2021 – (winy maas, jacob van rijs, nathalie de vries, frans de witte, fokke moerel, wenchian shi, jan knikker)

partners:
contractor: BAM bouw en techniek

structure: IMd raadgevend ingenieurs

cost engineering: BBN
installations: RHDHV
façade consultants: ABT
building physics: peutz
landscape architect: MTD landschap architecten
restaurant designer: concrete
art collaborations: john körmeling (lobby), marieke van diemen (atrium), pipilotti rist (exterior light show)
photographs: © ossip van duivenbode, © aad hoogendoorn, © rob becker