Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen
The opening of the Depot has made a new concept a reality: every museum has a storage facility, but only at Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is the storage open to the public. More than 151,000 objects housed together, arranged in fourteen storage compartments with five different climates. Here you see the works of art as one small part of a huge collection. It is a working building, where artworks are cleaned, conserved, restored, packed, unpacked, transported, etc.
The collection is public property, and the museum’s staff work for and with the public. The Depot shows how the artworks are preserved for the future. But it also explores their past. How did the collection originate? How is the collection being expanded? What new interconnection relations can be made within the collection with this new concept of storing, conserving and presenting?
Design by MVRDV
The Depot was designed by architects MVRDV. The ambition was to design a public depot that is as inviting as possible, making visitors feel welcome. An accessible building that transparently shows how the collection is maintained. A round shape was chosen so that the depot is equally inviting on all sides.
The reflective facade, consisting of 6,609 m2 of glass divided over 1,664 panels, ensures that the building visually blends into its surroundings. Every day – depending on weather conditions – the depot looks different, like in a living painting. The birches, grasses and pines placed on the award-winning roof help to retain water, promote biodiversity and reduce heat stress in the city.
The opening of the Depot has made a new concept a reality: every museum has a storage facility, but only at Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is the storage open to the public. More than 151,000 objects housed together, arranged in fourteen storage compartments with five different climates. Here you see the works of art as one small part of a huge collection. It is a working building, where artworks are cleaned, conserved, restored, packed, unpacked, transported, etc.
The collection is public property, and the museum’s staff work for and with the public. The Depot shows how the artworks are preserved for the future. But it also explores their past. How did the collection originate? How is the collection being expanded? What new interconnection relations can be made within the collection with this new concept of storing, conserving and presenting?
Design by MVRDV
The Depot was designed by architects MVRDV. The ambition was to design a public depot that is as inviting as possible, making visitors feel welcome. An accessible building that transparently shows how the collection is maintained. A round shape was chosen so that the depot is equally inviting on all sides.
The reflective facade, consisting of 6,609 m2 of glass divided over 1,664 panels, ensures that the building visually blends into its surroundings. Every day – depending on weather conditions – the depot looks different, like in a living painting. The birches, grasses and pines placed on the award-winning roof help to retain water, promote biodiversity and reduce heat stress in the city.