Twenty-five years ago, construction of the current Groninger Museum, designed by Alessandro Mendini, was completed. What was considered a shocking design at the time has since become iconic. I’m going to take you through the utopia Mendini has created and talk about the ideas behind it.
OUTSIDE
You arrive from the train station. A big blue arch greets you: the actual beginning of the museum. That’s where the bridge starts, crossing the canal. The bridge connects the city centre to the train station. However, it is also the only entrance to the museum. At the centre of the bridge is the famous ‘totem’ sculpture. It is not merely playful and decorative: you can also sit on it and the shapes create a map of the museum. Is this a work of art or a utilitarian object? Mendini said the following about it: ‘I am a designer who applies the practices characteristic of an artist to architecture and design, and conversely, I am a painter who applies the practices characteristic of a designer to painting. In my work I combine these and other disciplines (...), between which I do not feel the slightest dividing line, but rather an enormous amount of room in which to move about.’
THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE AND MENDINI ROOMS
The great golden tower looms over the bridge, with an opening framed in a mosaic at the very bottom. Once inside, you see the same mosaic — a true trademark of Mendini — on the spiral staircase. To see the works of art you will first have to descend these stairs. In doing so, Mendini literally turns traditional ideas of art on their heads: where previously there was a strong notion that art is elevated above normal life, Mendini actually considers it a foundational part of life.
If you turn left at the bottom of the stairs, you will be at the entrance to the west side of the museum. The rooms in this section were designed by Mendini and inspired by the Altes Museum by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and traditional Roman villas, where the various rooms are partially visible from the entrance. This gives a sort of sneak preview of what comes next. In the eyes of Mendini and then-director Frans Haks, this allows keeps the visitor in suspense.
After you've gone through the ‘regular rooms’, you exit at the first contribution from a ‘guest architect’. In fact, Mendini did not design the building on his own, but sought the help of internationally known architects in the process, each of whom gave their own interpretation to a pavilion. This kind of collaboration is typical of how Mendini worked, which he himself compared to conducting an orchestra: ‘I don't think I'm stingy enough to think that only what I make matters. There is no one visual language that wins over everyone these days. You can also see that in how I work. I work and play well with others. (...) That excitement — not having the last word in projects — I like that.’
THE COOP HIMMELB(L)AU PAVILION
The Coop Himmelb(l)au pavilion was designed by Wolf Prix and Helmut Swiczinsky and stands out the most compared to the other pavilions. For example, this is one of the few art spaces in the building where you can look outside and there are not many walls. Did you know that the initial sketches for this pavilion were done by Frank Stella? However, his concept was not safe enough and was dropped. Made of concrete and steel from a shipyard, the Coop Himmelb(l)au pavilion was created from automatic drawings: the first sketches for this pavilion were made with the eyes closed.
DE LUCCHI PAVILION
After walking quite a bit, you'll arrive at the other side of the building. Here, the permanent collection is displayed in pavilions by De Lucchi and Starck. De Lucchi depicted a kind of fortress, made of brick and decorated with two stone lions from Farmsum. This pavilion first contained the cultural history of Groningen and was furnished with large, wooden cubes. Nowadays, after there was a flood, the layout is more conventional, and you can see highlights of the museum's own collection.
STARCK PAVILION
After going up and down a few stairs, you will arrive at the Starck Pavilion. This houses the arts and crafts and feels open and heavenly. Unlike the other pavilions, this one contains a labyrinth-like layout, where you wander through and are never sure if you've really seen everything. The design is inspired by the potter's wheel, vase and craquelé-like cracks: typical images of the industry.
After visiting the many other halls, you step outside again. The outdoor air feels fresh, and you can see daylight now. This building is more than a museum. Some call it a church; others call it abstract junk. What did the creative all-rounder Mendini think? He calls his objects characters from a novel: ‘An object is never just a tool. The energy it expresses is a narrative and a destiny that gives the silent forms of things a literary identity. I always try to express this narrative meaning — this paradox — as if each object, along with its users, is a character in a novel.’
Sources: Groninger Museum lecture by Steven Kolsteren and the publication Mondo Mendini - de wereld van Alessandro Mendini (The World of Alessandro Mendini), which is on offer in the museum store.
The Groninger Museum building is celebrating its 25th anniversary, which will involve a variety of activities during the weekend of 26-27 October 2020.
The exhibition Mondo Mendini can be visited at the Groninger Museum until 5 May 2020.