Type of project
Museum co-designing and covering project
Year
2016
Tag
Interior Wood Stairs Travertine Glass Geometry Arts
Photographers
Pietro Savorelli
Status
Completed
Location
Wassenar, Netherlands
The Voorlinden museum is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty that borders the adjacent dune park, within a network of buildings that have been designated as a national monument.
We worked within a pre-set project, focusing on the character of the “stone cladding”, made with travertine from Rapolano (Siena), and defining the character of the main interior functional spaces such as the auditorium, the library, the bookshop, and toilets, along with the lighting design and the practical inter-connection of all the common spaces.
To enhance the building’s sense of space, we decided to apply the stone using an innovative idea interpreted through the way the surface was applied, creating a cladding pattern made up of custom pieces (up to 40 x 180 cm) that would create and accentuate the impression of a monolith. The effect is that of a “massive” architectural design that simplifies and cleans the network of compositional lines and shadows created by the seasons, defining a metaphysical volume that integrates perfectly with the natural colours in the surrounding area.
The corner details of the cladding on the pillars are of particular note and technological sophistication. These panels were carved as single pieces from whole blocks, revealing the vein-cut on the edge of the long sides and the cross-cut along the short face to emphasize the natural grain of the stone.
The auditorium’s unique interior is created by the installation of an acoustic system divided into four truncated conical arches formed by spaced louvres. This pattern continues on the main wall and across the entire ceiling, incorporating the lighting system and concealing a great deal of technology.
The library houses 40,000 volumes collected over the years in tandem with the art collection and includes a highly prized collection of art books, which require extremely precise display conditions. We interpreted the role of the book as the unit of measurement of an architectural covering divided into two levels and connected by a helical staircase featuring a broad radius.
The wooden handrail is a fundamental part of the design; sculpted using variable ergonomics that connect and knit together the whole series of glass balustrades, beginning on the staircase and expanding onto the balconies, it is a sort of floating band that seems to have escaped from a baroque sculpture.
