{"id":148162,"date":"2025-09-16T20:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T20:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/148162\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T20:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T20:11:10","slug":"herzog-de-meuron-embraces-no-design-for-calder-gardens-in-philly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/148162\/","title":{"rendered":"Herzog & de Meuron embraces “no-design” for Calder Gardens in Philly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron<\/a> and landscape designer Piet Oudolf<\/a> have completed the Calder Gardens art institution, composed of underground galleries and a large reflective wall that slices through its site in Philadelphia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Located on a small wedge-shaped plot of land between local museums, the Barnes Foundation and the Franklin Institute, Calder Gardens<\/a> is dedicated to the work of the Philadelphia-born sculptor Alexander Calder, known for the large-scale kinetic mobile sculptures he produced during the mid-1900s.<\/p>\n

\"CalderHerzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf have completed Calder Gardens in Philadelphia<\/p>\n

The project consists of the central gallery building designed by Herzog & de Meuron<\/a> and surrounding gardens designed by Ouldof<\/a>. The “meadow-like” gardens wrap up and over the building’s subterranean galleries, which are exposed via a concrete-framed opening cut into the hilly site and a circular skylight.<\/p>\n

Its design was also meant to contrast the larger, monumental architecture that surrounds Calder Gardens, according to the team.<\/p>\n

\"CalderIt is located in a wedge-shaped site between two major thoroughfares<\/p>\n

“In this unique commission in Philadelphia \u2013 from the site, to the open brief, to our design process \u2013 I focused on space over form, leading me to explore below-grade areas and discover the defining spaces of the structure,” said Herzog.<\/p>\n

Herzog & de Meuron founder Jacques Herzog, who worked on the building largely during the COVID-19 pandemic, said he focused on “space over form” for the project and the campus was conceived as “a garden with a building”.<\/p>\n

“Calder Gardens embodies a kind of ‘no-design’ architecture, allowing the works of art to express their diversity and ambiguity across numerous different spatial contexts.”<\/p>\n

\"CalderThe small campus consists of a central gallery building and surrounding gardens designed by Oudolf<\/p>\n

On its ground level, the garden is backed by a long metal wall that forms the above-ground component of the building.<\/p>\n

It also reduces highway noise for the garden, according to the team.<\/p>\n

\"BarnA “porch” building leads out onto the gardens<\/p>\n

A small, wooden pavilion, referred to as a “porch” by the studio, juts out from the centre of the wall, providing an entryway between the gallery lobby and the garden.<\/p>\n

“It is domestic in scale and engages the individual as they begin their Calder Gardens experience,” said the architecture studio.<\/p>\n

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Herzog & de Meuron and EHDD to create Eames design museum in 1960s warehouse\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The 18,000-square-foot (1,672-square-metre) structure is made up of an elongated “barn-like building”, which contains offices, a loading area and a small wood-lined lobby, which leads to the porch and a staircase egress on the highway-facing side.<\/p>\n

Clad in blackened wood, the highway-facing side was designed to be discreet.<\/p>\n

“The low building is only seen in passing from this vantage point and does not draw attention to the project,” said the studio.<\/p>\n

\"CalderThe building is composed of a network of subterranean galleries<\/p>\n

“The lobby is different than the typical large-scale spaces that define most museum entryways. “<\/p>\n

Visitors then descend into the galleries below. The interior is broken into several galleries, which will display a rotating selection of Calder’s work and other items.<\/p>\n

\"CalderConcrete, wood-cladding and standard white walls make up the interior<\/p>\n

The galleries are framed by planes of concrete, wood, and standard drywall. Some have double-height to accommodate the sculptor’s large-scale work.<\/p>\n

A mezzanine, slim windows and a wooden staircase also feature in the building’s interior.<\/p>\n

\"SubterraneanLarge-scale works are displayed in double-height galleries<\/p>\n

A large, circular space sits at the centre of the plan and beneath the ground-floor “porch”.<\/p>\n

Bordered by floor-to-ceiling windows, it looks out into an outdoor courtyard, which is exposed to the gardens above.<\/p>\n

Off this main circular space is a smaller one, topped by the skylight visible from the garden.<\/p>\n

The remaining galleries branch off of this space in a variety of geometric shapes and sizes, including smaller niches carved into the walls.<\/p>\n

\"CalderA circular space sits at the centre of the plan and beneath the “porch” above<\/p>\n

Outside, Ouldof’s gardens descend down the hill and are cut through with curving paths that lead across the site. The landscape is filled with 250 varieties of plants, organised into a patchwork of small clusters.<\/p>\n

“Calder Gardens is a world that unfolds as you walk through the door,” said the team.<\/p>\n

\"CalderA rotation of Calder’s work will be displayed along with other programming<\/p>\n

Beyond displaying the sculptor’s work, Calder Gardens will host lectures, sonic experiences, screenings, and other events. It is set to open to the public in late September.<\/p>\n

It is supported by the non-profit Calder Foundation and is managed by the Barnes Foundation.<\/p>\n

Herzog & de Meuron recently revealed plans to convert a former Birkenstock factory into an Eames museum in California<\/a>, while Piet Oudolf worked on the Vitra campus in Germany<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Iwan Baan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron and landscape designer Piet Oudolf have completed the Calder Gardens art institution,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134,1012,21816,99942,98513,61745,61746,2957],"class_list":{"0":"post-148162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-herzog-de-meuron","16":"tag-museums","17":"tag-philadephia","18":"tag-piet-oudolf","19":"tag-sectionall","20":"tag-sectionarchitecture","21":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}