IAFD & Kunstmuseum collaborate on 100th anniversary project

The starting point for the collaboration is the 100th anniversary of the museum, which will be in 2035. “It would be ideal if the museum is ready for the future by then,” director Margriet Schavemaker says.

“The municipality owns the building and has the explicit wish to make it more sustainable. We are now exploring how we can shape this together.

Apart from the task of making the building more sustainable, we also want to look at logistics, routing and layout in order to keep the museum accessible – also for the future, so that the museum can continue to meet the needs of our modern times.”

“And there’s another thing,” Schavemaker continues. “The Kunstmuseum is a great success. With more than 160.000 pieces of art and amazing exhibitions we draw over 400.000 visitors every year. But we also have a big challenge to face: How do we make sure we are here for the whole community?

To tackle both of these issues, we gladly draw upon the KABK students’ amazing brainpower.”

Re-entering the Museum

The collaboration between the KABK and the Kunstmuseum is a multi-year agreement. “Every year, we’re going to address another bottleneck and ask the KABK students to work on that problem with us,” Schavemaker says. “This year we focused on our entrance, which is a beautiful, long hallway. But, at the same time, we’re afraid that people might experience such a long hallway as a threshold to entering the museum. Hence the theme: Re-entering the Museum.

Exploring the possibilities from different angles gives us a tremendous amount of energy and fits well in this phase of orientation, in which nothing is yet established and everything lies open.”

Ten groups of students participated in the assignment. They had eight weeks to finish their designs. The result: ten very different projects. From stoop chairs with the purpose of connecting visitors, to a rollercoaster that races throughout the museum, the aim is to attract visitors from far and wide.

Another project is the dream-like Mention the Birds, that shows art to the birds in a luscious green environment – another still is a huge brick totally blocking the museums’ entrance. The visitors that do manage to get inside are confronted by a huge megaphone. Through this megaphone they can share their thoughts and feelings about the new direction of the museum.

Radical imagination

Schavemaker is impressed by the designs. “A lot of the students’ ideas are very feasible in practice. Other ones, like the big brick blocking the entrance of the museum, show radical imagination. Both are good. If we want to change the world, if we want the museum to be open to everyone, we need that radical imagination.”

Herman Verkerk, head of the bachelor’s programme Interior Architecture & Furniture Design ‘Cohabitation’ thoroughly agrees. He is pleased with the collaboration between the KABK and the Kunstmuseum. “Cultural institutions in the Netherlands – the KABK amongst them – all struggle with the same issues. Such as who is coming through our doors? We are here for the whole community, we mustn’t lose sight of that. By joining our forces, we can look for creative solutions.”

In addition, Verkerk sees the collaboration as an excellent opportunity for KABK students to gain experience outside the safe walls of the academy.

Inspiring each other

Final-year student Milo Hatfield – who designed The Rollercoaster – feels the same. “This project offered us the chance to connect theory and practice in a professional setting.” He looks back on an intensive, almost pressure-cooker-like period. “With only eight weeks, it was good that all the students working on this assignment were together in one space. It allowed us to help and inspire each other. It was an enriching experience.”

By Marjon Hoogesteger