Marta Herford
Gehry Partners, LLP

May 07, 2005 /

Herford, Germany

Photo: Thomas Mayer

The Marta Herford is one of the first museums in Germany to present the interfaces between art, design, fashion and architecture as a site for reflection and aesthetic articulation.

The fundamental design strategy involved the incorporation of a fragment of an industrial building, now existing on the site with new buildings located to the South and to the North, so that the existing building became the centerpiece of the new museum complex.

Photo: Thomas Mayer

The building complex consists of four individual components. The exhibition wing, made up of three small and two large galleries, and a slightly curved lecture and event forum. Visitors enter the complex through a new central entry plaza that is flanked on both sides by the new buildings.

Photo: Thomas Mayer

Photo: Thomas Mayer

The narrow, glass entrance building leads to the converted old factory building. The rear of the building, designed by the architect Martin Lippold in the 1930s, borders directly on the river Aa. A riverbank café/restaurant adjacent to it, has a two-story copper bar, and a terrace above the river.

Photo: Thomas Mayer

The original character of the existing building has been maintained. The facades of the new buildings are clad in a reddish-brown brick, typical of the region. The curved and undulating stainless steel roof adds lightness to the buildings.

Sketch courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP

Model photo courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP

Facts about Marta Herford

Site area:

8.100 m2
Gross floor area: 7.000 m2
Existing building: 3,425 m2

Architects:
Gehry Partners, LLP

Contractor:

MKK GmbH

Architect:

Frank Gehry, GP, LLP in cooperation with
Local Architect: Archimedes GmbH

Project Management:
Hartwig Rullkötter

Photographed by Thomas Mayer