Perhaps Groningen‘s main attraction is the Groninger Museum near the railway station. The current premises were inaugurated in 1994.

The museum opened in 1874. The current post-modernist building consists of three main pavilions designed individually by architects Philippe Starck, Michele de Lucchi, Coop Himmelb(l)au, and was completed in 1994.

The building

Mendini’s ideas on breaching traditional classifications almost automatically lead to practical collaboration with other artists, designers and architects. This is also due to the fact that he was eager to work with various disciplines and techniques that he himself has not mastered.

In addition to collaborating with other designers, another important driving force is his wish to supervise and discover young talent. For example, he supervised Atelier Mendini: with architects, jewellery designers, watch designers for Swatch, domestic products for Alessi, theatre performances, fashion shows and video clips.

Mendini asked invited three guest architects to design pavilions for the new Groninger Museum: the Italian designer Michele de Lucchi, Philippe Starck from Paris, and Coop Himmelb(l) au from Vienna.

Mendini also worked with Dutch architects and designers such as the Groningen architectural office Team 4, Albert Geertjes and Geert Koster. For the large-scale revitalisation in 2010, the Groninger Museum appointed another three top designers, all approved by Mendini, of course.

Dutch designers Maarten Baas and Studio Job and the Spanish designer Jaime Hayon laid out three new spaces in the museum: the Mendini Restaurant, the Job Lounge and the Info Center.

The collection

The collection consists mostly of contemporary art including photography, painting, design objects and kitchen utensils.

‘En tóch staat de Martini‘ focuses on 75 years of liberation from nazi occupation of Groningen.

The Groninger Museum is mostly worth a visit for its architecture and its interior design. I loved its paint jobs, with a lot of pink.

Allow two to three hours to enjoy the museum.

Corona

The Groninger Museum handles coronavirus countermeasures very well. Many arrows on the floor show you the way. It feels natural and it makes you not miss a room.

With the help of Wikipedia and GroningerMuseum.nl.