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/ Building Vitra: the Chronology

The Vitra site or rather sites - there are two: one in Birsfelden (Switzerland) and the other in Weil am Rhein (Germany) - are located in the metropolitan region of Basel where Switzerland, Germany and France meet.

The Swiss site in Birsfelden was developed first, starting with a factory building designed by Basel architects Beck and Bauer in 1950. Many years later, in 1994, the Vitra headquarters building was constructed by Frank Gehry next to the factory, which today houses the product development centre.

The German site in Weil am Rhein - just across the border, 6 kilometres from Birsfelden - had a far more dynamic development, thanks to its ample land reserve. A first factory building with a small administration annex was constructed in 1954 and anonymous industrial buildings were gradually added. This all changed in 1981 when a large fire destroyed most of the Vitra factory buildings. The destruction brought an opportunity to redefine Vitra and its surroundings.

The first building of the new era was a factory designed by Nicholas Grimshaw. His approach to industrial architecture matched Vitra’s technical orientation. As the cooperation had been a success, Vitra asked Grimshaw to design a master plan for the future development of the site. It was based on the rationalistic vision of a single corporate identity expressed in the arrangement of similar architectural structures. Grimshaw designed a second building and then the concept changed radically. The turning point came in an encounter with Claes Oldenburg who, with Coosje van Bruggen, had developed the Balancing Tools sculpture for the Vitra site (1984). Playful but subversive, the sculpture influenced the chemistry of the site but its essence only changed after visits by Frank Gehry, a friend of Oldenburg’s, and his dialogue with Rolf Fehlbaum.

The concept of the standardised industrial site was abandoned and 1989 saw the opening of the Vitra Design Museum and a factory building by Frank Gehry, the architect’s first permanent construction outside the US. The dialectic between Grimshaw and Gehry prompted a new concept for the site: a collage based on the creative tension of diversity in which every building would be designed by a different architect; this was not done to accumulate a collection of architecture - a frequent misinterpretation of the site - but to create an energetic contemporary “campus” where industrial, administration and cultural activities could be mixed together.

Zaha Hadid was chosen to design a fire station and, inaugurated in 1993, it was her first constructed building. Tadao Ando’s conference pavilion of the same year was his first building outside Japan. Álvaro Siza’s factory and “gate” were completed in 1994.

The choice of architects was based on Rolf Fehlbaum’s affinities and who he thought was the best match for a particular architectural task. One important factor was that the architects had no previous relationship with the MetroBasel area. The Vitra Site should be a world in itself with no links to the architectural trends in the region. As a result, upcoming Basel architects were not considered at that time.

Eva Jiricna and Antonio Citterio intervened on existing buildings. A Buckminster Fuller dome of 1978-79 and a Jean Prouvé petrol station of 1953 were salvaged, restored and installed on the site. Jasper Morrison designed two new bus shelters.

New needs arose around 2005. As well as its office-furniture production, in recent years Vitra had developed a range of products for the home and the idea of a new kind of showroom, called VitraHaus, emerged; furthermore, an old factory building had to be replaced and outside storage space integrated; more recently, it became clear that the facilities for children’s workshops organised by the Vitra Design Museum were no longer adequate. New architectural choices were made to resolve these needs.

The VitraHaus commission finally provided the opportunity to ask Herzog & de Meuron to contribute to the Vitra site. For so many years these great architects had been far more than a regional strength; ironically, their love for and knowledge of the region produced a design that uses the conventional local building type but transforms it.

SANAA was appointed to design a large 20,000m2 factory. The idea behind commissioning Kazuyo Sejima was curiosity and the challenge of confronting her refined aesthetic with the needs of an industrial facility. The result is a new type of factory.

Both buildings will be completed in 2009.

Herzog & de Meuron and SANAA’s work had been seen and appreciated for many years but Alejandro Aravena from Chile was a more recent discovery. The commission to design the Workshop building was decided by his direct and fresh approach, and his experience with social housing in Chile. His challenge is to design a low-budget building which is poetic and welcoming despite the financial and ecological constraints.

Aravena’s building is still at the planning stage and will be completed by spring 2010.