The reserve of the famous museum, where the works of Van Eyck, Frans Hals, Vincent Van Gogh are kept, is threatened with flooding, because it is located below sea level. Therefore, the leadership of this cultural institute decided to build a new storage facility next to the main building, where the museum collection would be safe.
The project of the winners, architects MVRDV, is a huge mirror "bowl" with a total area of 14,000 m2. In the spirit of modern trends in museum work, the storeroom will be partially accessible for visiting: a zigzag path will pass through the building from the bottom up. On this route, art lovers will be able to get to the roof of the building, where a sculpture garden and a restaurant will be arranged.
As a reminder, in 2007 MVRDV developed a storehouse project for the Boijmans-van Beuningen museum, which was significantly different from the current one, but it was not implemented. But the implementation of the current version is not guaranteed: the authorities of Rotterdam will consider the project until the end of 2014 and may, as a result, reject it. In addition, MVRDV almost lost the victory in the competition, as the architects were accused of violating the rules of participation and they had to prove their innocence in court.
Also participating in the competition were a team of workshops NIO, MAD and landscape architects Okra, Koen van Velsen, Neutelings Riedijk, as well as Harry Gugger Studio in conjunction with Barcode Architects.
