Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, part of the Rotterdamse Museumpark, is the world’s first publicly accessible art depot. The client emphatically did not want a second museum, but a working building that showcases the world behind the storage and maintenance of a dizzying number of art and design pieces: 151,000 artworks, spread over 14 depot spaces. Here you can – on your own or with a guide – wander through the building or watch conservation or restoration work as it takes place. The MVRDV team, led by Winy Maas, opted for a round, sturdy building with reflective facade and a public roof garden, which always faces out towards its neighbours and visually blends into its surroundings.

Something fantastic has been created here; a place that literally and figuratively gives something back to the city. The design questions what we want from museum collections and allows the public to experience art in a new way. Together with Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, MVRDV has designed an iconic building and a new typology of what a depot can be. Dealing with the collection as a whole becomes an experience, which affects not only the building but also the programming. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen opens up a completely different spectrum of ways to present art and taps into layers that would normally remain invisible, such as insight into the art of conservation.