The new art depot is an unprecedented building typology that responds to the desire of museums around the world to expand public access to their collections. At any given time, major institutions display around six percent of their permanent collections, keeping the vast majority of works concealed from public view in climatized storage facilities. Starting in the 1970s and gaining popularity over the last 20 years, “visible storage” galleries have expanded the public’s exposure to stored artworks. With calls for expanded access and mission-focused diversity, institutions are conceiving of stand-alone storage buildings that are fully open to the public, displaying works beyond the traditional gallery setting.
Join us on Zoom to learn about the development and concepts behind two new public art storage buildings. Koray Duman will present Büro Koray Duman’s design for the Noguchi Museum’s Art and Archive Building in New York, followed by Fokke Moerel’s presentation of the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, a new archive building designed by MVRDV for the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. A moderated discussion on these buildings’ unique approach to increasing institutional relationships to their communities will be led by the esteemed scholar Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director of the Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam.
