The new Rotterdam museum that is putting everything on show
MVRDV’S new Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam blows the dust off art storage by welcoming the public at its heart
On average, most international museums only show six to seven per cent of their collections to the public at any one time. The rest is often off site and hidden from view, tucked away in closed depots. The new Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, designed by architecture firm MVRDV, is bucking this trend, making 99 per cent of its building accessible to the public and its entire collection of some 151,000 artefacts available for viewing.
Technological innovation was key to this bold move, says MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. ‘We put technology on the same level as sociology, ecology and the economy,’ he says. ‘Innovations and achievements in all these aspects are equally important.’ Indeed, the Depot’s ovoid, monolithic appearance belies the most sophisticated engineering. The 39.5m high, bowl-shaped structure is 40m in diameter at the bottom and 60m at the top, and its overhanging part has no direct supports. Additionally, the openings, including the visitors’ entrance, and the entrance and exit for the exhibitions, create weak points on the ground floor. The task, therefore, was to come up with a design in which the lowest (and narrowest) part of the building could withstand the high load from above.
The solution lay in the foundations: the first two floors were made from concrete poured in situ, functioning as a structurally solid plinth for the building upon which the remaining four storeys could be constructed.
These upper floors are made from prefabricated concrete elements. Below ground, the architects were keen to keep the foundation work strong but also as discreet as possible, to avoid obstructing the natural flow of underground water. ‘The foundation piles of the Depot are kept limited and narrow. We trialled this with our design for the Oslo headquarters of the Norwegian bank DNB, where we guaranteed that water could flow through subterraneously using the same principle,’ says Maas. ‘It is important for the environment that no blockage is created by underground garages, metro lines and so on.’
Covered by 1,664 mirrored glass panels, the 6,609 sq m façade appears to multiply the greenery of the surrounding Museumpark. A number of different types of glass were used, including standard reflective glass; reflective glass with a film coating, which is used opposite the Erasmus medical centre to safeguard the patients’ privacy; transparent glass for work spaces that need more daylight; and a type of gradient glass that goes from mirror to fully transparent for the entrances and the roof, so that visitors can enjoy the long views from inside, too. The curvature of the glass panels was another challenge. ‘Most of the panels had to go in the oven two or three times to gain the perfect shape. It was a labour intensive process,’ says Maas. The experimentation did not end there. On the roof are 75 birch trees, each several metres high. ‘We started growing them in the south of the Netherlands. By keeping the water level just beneath the surface, we trained them to grow their roots horizontally. When we moved them from the nursery, we knotted the roots together, then spread them out on the rooftop, as the overlapping of the roots creates a strong structure,’ says Maas. ‘Growing them was a simple but lengthy process that took five years.’
The central atrium’s criss-crossing staircases lead visitors through various public areas, all the way up to the rooftop
The bowl shape means that the building has a limited footprint on the ground floor, while the roof is roomier, also offering wider views over the Museumpark and the city beyond.
To ensure energy efficiency, MVRDV installed underground thermal storage for climate control; solar panels; LED lighting and high-performance insulation. Rainwater is stored for use in irrigation and the toilet facilities, while the remaining water run-off is directed into a neighbouring pond.
Maas also invited other creatives to contribute to the project. The ground floor comprises two half moon-shaped spaces separated by glass; one of them contains the entrance hall and the other a loading dock. Artist John Körmeling took advantage of the high ceiling here to create a mezzanine, so visitors can watch art handlers at work on the other side of the transparent wall.
Amsterdam-based design firm Concrete created a mobile table system for the rooftop restaurant, which means it can be turned into a gallery or performance space at any time. Artist and photographer Marieke van Diemen designed the atrium’s 13 floating glass display cases: when an artwork is removed from storage, it will immediately be put into a case for protection, but will still be on view. ‘You can see the exhibits at all angles; you can even walk on top of them,’ explains Maas. There will be storage depots on floors one to five, the education centre will be on the second, galleries on the third and fourth, and the Stichting De Verre Bergen suite (named after Rotterdam’s social investment fund, which covered the building cost of the Depot alongside the City Council) on the fifth. The atrium occupies the central space on all floors and its criss-crossing staircases lead visitors through various public areas, all the way up to the rooftop. Each atrium staircase will have a landing exactly in the centre of the building, allowing visitors a panoramic view from the heart of the Depot.
An architectural marvel and instant landmark, the Depot marks the start of a new wave of urban development for Rotterdam. The next few years will see the unveiling of MVRDV’S Harbour Experience Centre; MAD Architects’ Fenix Museum of Migration and OMA’S Feyenoord Stadium, to name a few. As one of the draughtsmen of the city’s bold architecture statements, Maas calls it ‘a kind of laboratory’, adding: ‘The process has actually been going on for 50 years and we have made a very beautiful collection of urban interventions; here you see the experiments of our time.’ *
Opens on 9 November, mvrdv.nl; boijmans.nl
Technological innovation was key to this project, says MVRDV’S Winy Maas: ‘We put technology on the same level as sociology, ecology and the economy’