Project: Studio Milani Siena, Degree Thesis University of Florence, Caterina Cipriani
Supervisor: Anna Lambertini
Co-supervisor: Annunziata De Comite Studio Milani Siena, Tesi di Laurea Università degli Studi di Firenze, CAterina Cipriani: Relatore Anna Lambertini, Correlatore Annunziata De Comite
Intro
The headquarters of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Voorlinden in Wassenaar is located within a large estate originally developed as an agricultural residence in close relationship with the adjacent dune landscape.
Born as an agricultural estate as early as the beginning of the 20th century, it later became a place of experimentation in architecture and landscape systems, where botanical collecting first and art collecting later definitively shaped its character.
The study starts from this place, where nature is overwhelming and contemporary art blends into it. The proximity to the dune system significantly guided the design choices related to the selection of plant species to be used, with the aim of restoring some characteristics of a fragile ecotone that has been widely compromised due to the spread of cattle breeding in the area.
The objective of the design research was the functional and landscape reorganization of the Voorlinden estate, through the definition of a system of open-air “botanical rooms” connected to each other and to the existing natural and architectural context.
A new itinerary of exploration and visit of the estate unfolds through a sequence of “Wunderkammer” — rooms designed and intended for the collection of wonders, of naturalia and artificialia, of precious elements.
Within this open-air collection, the Green House adds the sense of research, meditation, and the close and intimate study of the object — in this case, plant life — to the collection.
An experiential path is thus generated, linking different scenarios not only for the benefit of visitors to the Voorlinden museum but also for a wider audience, who can approach contemporary art through a different path, in some ways more spontaneous and unconscious, apparently practical-productive and yet entirely scientific, poetic, and contemporary.
In this way, the contemporary cultural value is expanded within the Voorlinden museum complex, bringing together art, taste, and botanical experimentation.
The Voorlinden Estate in Wassenaar, in southern Holland, is an area deeply connected to the Dutch dune landscape, around which, in the 17th century, a series of agricultural estates were established, where villas were later built and actual parks were developed. At Voorlinden, the first park design dates back to the late 19th century by landscape architect J. Zocher. The villa and garden were designed by British architect R. J. Johnston in 1912 and became a national monument in 1950.
Around the 1940s, Leonard Springer reorganized the park according to a landscape vision to reconnect the estate with the new villa, using both native and exotic tree species. The assortment of this vegetation defines the nature of Voorlinden, transforming the park into a green collection, a sort of open-air botanical museum.
Voorlinden became the property of a Dutch entrepreneur and major art collector, Joop van Caldenborgh, in 2011, who in 2016 commissioned the construction of the homonymous Museum of Contemporary Art.
The project, developed in its structure and overall layout by the Dutch studio Kraaijvanger Architects, in its external finishes as well as interior installations by Studio Milani of Siena, was completed by Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf, a leading figure of the Dutch Wave, who in 2017 defined the museum’s exterior with a backdrop of perennial herbaceous plants on gently modeled organic terrain.
At this point in the history of Voorlinden, within the proposed experience, the Villa and the existing park, the Museum, and the new collection of herbaceous plants by Piet Oudolf come together.
Project Data
Typology: Design and construction supervision
Location: Volterra, 2018
Status: In progress
Photos: @delriobani; Arscape
Promoter
Private
Category
Landscape, Architecture, Design