VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM

Re-Envisioning the VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM

Throughout Gehry's work, such as Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (1997), Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003), Vila Olympica in Barcelona, Lewis House in Lyndhurst, Ohio (1989-1995) and the Fish Dance Restaurant (1986-1987), there has been a common theme, that theme being fish. So in my attempt to re-envision Gehry's Vitra Design Museum I would like to continue on this theme of fish.

Currently, the Virta Design Museum sits on an open plane surrounded by several other buildings designed by well-known architects and is adjacent to a factory. I would like to change its surroundings by placing the Virta Design Museum on a site where the you could not tell where the building and site meet, blurring the relationship between the built form and topography such as neighbouring the Vitra Design Museum to the water or even drowning the Virta Design Museum in water.

The Vitra Design Museum is an attraction itself, with its large scale blocks added to it at different angles challenges the notion of what a building should be. This being a strong component of the museum I would like to add to it, instead of changing it. By adding to the building I will have to be aware of what not only how it affects the exterior of the museum but also how it interacts with people inside the museum. Not only could I add blocks to the exterior of the building, but by adding different scales to the inside of the building, I could interact with the people inside such as controlling the way they walk or even the way they view certain works.

STRUCTURAL DETAILS

SITE EXAMPLES