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A Humble IKEA Salad Bowl Was The Inspiration For This Open-Storage Art Museum
By Ell Ko, 15 Nov 2021
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Image via MVRDV
Inspiration tends to strike when we are least looking for it. It’s a familiar, pained-smile-inducing conundrum in the world of the creative.
So what was the inspiration between Dutch architecture firm MVRDV’s newly-opened, monumental building in Rotterdam? What spurred the “aha!” moment that the design team built their concept for the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen upon?
An IKEA salad bowl.
You know the one. It indeed is the smooth, spherical stainless steel piece of crockery that probably popped into your mind the moment you read “IKEA salad bowl,” otherwise known as BLANDA BLANK.
This piece of inspiration cost exactly €3.99 / US$3.99, and became the centerpiece at the (drawing) table after architect Winy Maas was seeking “something round” to represent the building on the site model.
Image via MVRDV
“The interns had put a big rectangular block of Styrofoam on the site model,” Maas recalls to The Guardian. “It was too rude. I thought something round would be nicer to our neighbours, so I replaced it with a mug. Then we wanted to reduce the footprint, so I grabbed the stainless steel bowl, with its nice mirroring aspect. That was it.”
And that it was. The €94 million (US$107.7 million) building serves as storage for the art museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. In this new model for an art gallery, the museum’s entire warehouse of 151,000 works will be put on display here.
Image via MVRDV
Maas has stated that he feels that Rotterdam, in particular, is most suited to these unconventional architectural silhouettes, describing it as a city that doesn’t have “regular urbanism.” After it was flattened in World War II, its rebuilding has seen countless innovative structures spring up.
“It’s about making objects. Every generation makes its mark, and the next reacts,” he continues.
However, it isn’t exactly a case of “anything goes.” The Guardian reports that MVRDV had won the Depot project in 2007 with a different IKEA concept built upon the LACK table. This would see the building be a “gargantuan square platform” with 35-meter-tall (115-foot) legs, complete with cranes lifting crates up and down to display “storage.”
But this was too much, even for quirky Rotterdam, hence the “salad bowl” made of mirror-coated glass panels reminiscent of a hall of mirrors.
The Depot officially opened on November 6, and is allowing visitors to don white coats and traverse the staggering amounts of art. Inside, away from the mirrors, the art is spread out over seven main levels and 20 departments. 14 of these are used by the museum and the other six are leased by private collectors.
Image via MVRDV
Dezeen reports that these storage areas are divided into five “climate zones” to suit art pieces’ specific temperature and humidity requirements. At the heart of the building is an atrium that extends all the way from ground floor to the Depot’s top, with glass walls allowing a look into storage areas from the atrium.
Image via MVRDV
Image via MVRDV
On the buildings’ rooftop, the widest part of the structure, a forest-garden aims to “retain water, promote biodiversity, and reduce heat stress in the city.” Those who remember MVRDV’s rather interesting Marble Arch concept will be pleased to know that the trees here are faring much better, having been prepared in a nursery prior.
“The versatility of the building appeals to me: it is both a place to wander between a lot of great art, and a place to enjoy special architecture, whether you are outside or inside,” shares Said Kasmi, Rotterdam’s Alderman for Education, Culture and Tourism, in a news release.
“It is a place where future makers and conservators—the children and students of today—can become fascinated by the creation, conservation, and restoration of art. We have a new crowd-pleaser. That makes me a proud Rotterdammer!”
Image via MVRDV
However, it isn’t a 100% “crowd-pleaser” as Kasmi has described. The Depot’s neighbor, the Erasmus hospital, has struggled with its highly reflective design. The hospital, steadfastly against the project for years, has had to resort to using a screen to make sure children in the psychiatric ward wouldn’t suffer too much visual stimuli.
Image via MVRDV
[via The Guardian, all images via MVRDV]
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