In a search to symbolically contradict the existence of separating walls and bunkers throughout the borders of his country, Israeli Ron Arad’s architectural office has created a series of hierarchically placed winding slabs that embrace Holon’s Museum of Design, luring the visitor into the metallic structure in a somewhat futuristic experience. The building is conceived as a sculpture thus acquiring an inventive and poetical character inherent to the concept of design. It has been awarded with the Condé Nast Traveller Innovation and Design for Culture prize in May 2009.
Ron Arad’s Museum of design was inaugurated at the beginning of this year. It has taken four years to build, although it is part of a broader range programme for the urban regeneration of the city. The mayor of the city of Holon, together with Managing Director Hana Herstman, formally invited Ron Arad to create an iconic building to represent the reinvented image of the city.
The structure is formed by five winding oxidized steel slabs, hence more resistant to corrosion, with the intention of forging a sculptural concept that transforms the building into an object of design. The buildings consists of two main spaces, a 500 square metre upper gallery where natural light is abundant, and an area underneath, half the surface area, that allows for a more intimate and personal relationship between the visitor and the object. The new leading urban role the building assumes will not only provide space for exhibits, but will also house the National Drawing Museum, The Holon Media library and a multimedia archive with a digital collection. This will eventually lead to the creation of the Holon Museum of Design Foundation and the existence of a permanent collection whose content will be revealed in the near future.
