This 8,000 SF building owns the world’s greatest Vitra Furniture Collection.
In 1989, Frank Ghery’s Vitra Design Museum became the gatehouse for the Vitra factory and collection exhibits. This 8,000 SF building owns the world’s greatest Vitra Furniture Collection.
As commonly seen with Ghery’s architectural designs, the Vitra Gallery follows the deconstructive sculptural concept. However, in this specific building, he incorporates the interior materiality with the exterior white plaster and titanium alloy.
The shape of the building is a mixture of towers, ramps, cubes, and volumes that come together to determine the:
- Light access inside the interior spaces
- Building program.
The intersection of towers, ramps, stairs, and volumes creates a sense of ambiguity and confusion of the interior program. Nevertheless, this intersection of volumes offers spaces that are dynamic and intriguing. Spaces that interplay between one another, providing the visitor a twirl motion experience.
According to Paul Heyer, an architecture critic, this building is “a continuous changing swirl of white forms.” However, if we compare the Vitra Design Museum with the adjacent Nicholas Grimshaw building, we find a clear relation in height and size.
INTERSECTION OF VOLUMES
Michelle Chedraui 