Herning Museum of Contemporary Art | Steven Holl architects

Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, image courtesy of Steven Holl architects | Photo by Steen Gyldendal

Herning Museum of Contemporary Art - Gallery sequence, image courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Gallery sequence diagram, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Lighting diagram, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Herning Museum of Contemporary Art in Herning, Denmark is a first prize winning project designed by Steven Holl Architects to accommodate exhibition galleries, 150 seat auditorium, music rehearsal rooms, restaurant, media library and administrative offices. The museum will open to public on September 9 2009.

+ Project description courtesy of Steven Holl architects

The Herning Center of the Arts unites three distinct cultural institutions: the Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, the MidWest Ensemble and the Socle du Monde. The new center is intended to be an innovative forum combining visual art and music.

The museum’s design fuses landscape and architecture in a one-level building that will include permanent and temporary exhibition galleries, a 150-seat auditorium, music rehearsal rooms, a restaurant, a media library, and administrative offices.

Herning’s prominent relationship with textiles and the Museum’s large collection of original works by Piero Manzoni (in total 46 works) form the inspiration for the concept design. The museum is sited near Herning’s original Angli shirt factory, and the shirt collar-shaped plan of its 1960s building has inspired the shape of the new museum building.

Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, sketches courtesy of Steven Holl

Viewed from above, the roof geometry resembles a collection shirt sleeves laid over the gallery spaces: the curved roofs bring balanced natural lights to the galleries. The loose edges of the plan offer spaces for the café, auditorium, lobby, and offices. The exhibition spaces can be easily closed, while all peripheral spaces remain open for after-hours use. Truck tarps were inserted into the white concrete formwork to yield a fabric texture to the building’s exterior walls.

Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, image courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, image courtesy of Steven Holl architects | Photo by Steen Gyldendal

Gallery spaces are orthogonal and finely proportioned for art, while overhead curved roof sections transport natural light into the spaces. The galleries’ perimeter walls are load bearing elements, emphasizing these as “treasure boxes” in the museum. Internal gallery walls of lightweight construction are movable, providing flexibility in anticipation of changing exhibitions. Floors of integral color charcoal concrete unify the ground plane into a continuous patina with a wax finish.

Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, image courtesy of Steven Holl architects | Photo by Steen Gyldendal

Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, image courtesy of Steven Holl architects | Photo by Steen Gyldendal

The surrounding landscape is partially shaped in the reverse-curve of the geometry of the roof. In transforming the flat field, a new 40,000sf bermed landscape of grass mounds and pools conceals parking and service areas, while drawing focus onto reflecting pools positioned in the south sun.

Site plan, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Ground floor plan, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Basement floor plan, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Elevation E, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Elevation N, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Elevation W, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Elevation S, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Section A-A, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Section B-B, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Section C-C, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Section D-D, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Clerestory detail, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

Sustainability Diagram, courtesy of Steven Holl architects

+ Project credits / data

Project: Herning Museum of Contemporary Art
Location: Herning, Denmark
Program: Temporary exhibition galleries, 150 seat auditorium, music rehearsal
rooms, restaurant, media library and administrative offices
Year: 2005-2009
Project type: Competition (first prize)
Building area (square): 60278sf/5600sm
Site area: 39370f/12000m
Client: Herning Center of the Arts

Architect: Steven Holl Architects
Steven Holl (design architect)
Noah Yaffe (project architect)
Chris McVoy (project advisor)
Lesley Chang, JongSeo Lee, Julia Radcliffe, Filipe Taboada,
Christina Yessios (project team)
Cosimo Caggiula, Martin Cox, Alessandro Orsini (competition
team)

Local architect: Kjaer and Richter A/S
Mechanical engineer: Niras, Transsolar
Structural engineer: Niras
Landscape architect: Schønherr Landskab

+ All images and drawings courtesy of Steven Holl architects | Photo by Steen Gyldendal + Steven Holl architects