Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

Storing over 151,000 artworks, Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen opens to the public in Rotterdam (6 November 2021), a work of the Dutch firm MVRDV.

The outcome of a competition held in 2014, the 15,000-square-meter construction rises in the north part of Rotterdam’s OMA-designed Museumpark. The curving facade comprises 6,609 square meters of glass subdivided into 1,664 mirrored panels, which, because they reflect the surroundings, help to mitigate the building’s visual impact. The compact, bowl-shaped volume has a small footprint and a generous rooftop terrace 35 meters above the ground.

Through crisscrossing stairs and display cases the central atrium offers a route up the depot, floor by floor, to give visitors a rare glimpse into how the museum takes care of and maintains its possessions, and connecting the galleries to the restoration workshops, storage spaces, and a restaurant. The museum’s collections will be kept and displayed in five microclimates, depending on the specific temperature and humidity requirements of the pieces and genres, produced with different materials.