The buildings on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein

During the exhibition Project Vitra – Design, Architecture, Communications (1950–2017), covering more than sixty years of Vitra’s history, we take another look at the buildings the well-known Swiss furniture maker has commissioned from world-famous architects for the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein.

A place for experimentation or a collection of contemporary buildings, the Vitra Campus began its history in 1981 when the company decided to appoint prominent international architects to design the buildings that had to be reconstructed after its production site was destroyed by fire. In the pages of Floornature we have discussed the newer buildings on the campus and referred to older buildings such as the Fire Station, which hosts the exhibition, the first work of architect Zaha Hadid, or the Vitra Design Museum designed by Frank Gehry in 1989, the American architect’s first building in Europe.
The long list of recent new buildings and installations includes two works by architects Herzog & de Meuron, the 2010 Vitra Haus and the 2016 Schaudepot. The Vitra Campus is a production plant, and the buildings where production actually takes place are also designed by important architects, such as Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (Sanaa) in 2012 and Alvaro Siza in 1994. The Portuguese architect also designed the pedestrian pathway linking VitraHaus with the Fire Station. The Vitra Campus also includes iconic installations such as the Vitra Slide Tower by German artist Carsten Höller, a panoramic tower 30.7 metres tall, and Diogene, a minimal living unit designed by Renzo Piano.

(Agnese Bifulco)
Images courtesy of Vitra

www.vitra.com

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