Oudolf Garten
| Oudolf Garten | |
|---|---|
 The garden, surrounding Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec's Ring | |
Interactive map of Oudolf Garten | |
| Type | Garden |
| Location | Vitra Campus, Ray, Charles-Eames-Straße 1 79576 Weil am Rhein, Germany |
| Coordinates | 47°36′10″N 7°37′02″E / 47.60288079728352°N 7.6172328988048825°E |
| Area | 4,000 square meters |
| Created | 2020 |
| Opened | 2021 |
| Designer | Piet Oudolf |
| Owner | Vitra |
Oudolf Garten, or Garten von Piet Oudolf, is a garden on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany.[1] Placed in front of the VitraHaus, it was planted by the Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf in May 2020 and opened to the public in June 2021.[2][3]
History
Rofl Fehlbaum, the chairman emeritus of Vitra, did not foresee any new buildings created on the Vitra Campus following the completion of the VitraHaus. However, he entertained the idea of a garden, as there had been landscaping projects done on the Vitra Campus before.[4] Upon seeing Oudolf's art at the Venice Biennale in 2010, as well as the High Line, Fehlbaum immediately considered him for the task.[5]
Originally, Fehlbaum wanted the garden planted around the Vitra Design Museum, but Oudolf pushed for its placement in front of the VitraHaus with the specific argument that it would provide good scenery for those coming in and out of the building.[5]
In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Oudolf then began planting for a new garden on the Vitra Complex.[6] The goal was to create a "balanced composition, or community as he calls it, of plants with distinct strengths and weaknesses and different flowering periods and life cycles, so that his gardens provide a sensual experience all year round and accentuate decay as much as high-season phases."[7] Oudolf also wanted to provide a diversity of sensory experiences in different regions of the garden.[6]
Months later, the flowers bloomed.[7] Around thirty thousand plants had been used for the garden of around four thousand square meters in total, and existing sculptures by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec were incorporated.[8][9] It opened to the public in June 2021, with expected maturing by September.[10]
In 2023, the Vitra Design Museum featured an exhibition on gardening, which included pieces by Oudolf.[11] Mateo Kries, director of the Vitra Design Museum, identified Oudolf's garden as the initial motivation to curate an exhibition in the first place.[12]
References
- ↑ Brechbühl, Anita (2024-04-28). "Ausflugstipp: ein Tag auf dem Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein". Travelita - Reiseblog (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ↑ Detterer, Gabriele (2022-01-25). "Piet Oudolfs Garten für Vitra ist auch im Winter schön". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ↑ Perry, Francesca (2021-06-28). "Piet Oudolf designs new garden for Vitra Campus". ICON Magazine. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ↑ Hickman, Matt (2021-06-21). "A Piet Oudolf-designed garden at the Vitra campus makes its full-bloom debut". The Architect’s Newspaper. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- 1 2 Macalister-Smith, Tilly (2021-06-12). "Piet Oudolf's Vitra garden opens in Weil am Rhein". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- 1 2 "Gartenkunst: Grünraum von Piet Oudolf auf dem Vitra Campus -". Swiss-Architects (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- 1 2 "Vitra Oudolf Garden / Piet Oudolf". ArchDaily. 2023-09-21. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ↑ "«Pflanzen sind für mich Persönlichkeiten»". Basler Zeitung (in German). 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ↑ "Piet Oudolf creates "ever-changing" garden for Vitra's architecture park". Dezeen. 2021-07-04. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ↑ "Piet Oudolf creates one of his legendary gardens at Vitra Campus with an ensemble of 30,000, perennials, grasses, shrubs and meadow flowers, composed down to the last detail". Global Design News. 2021-07-19. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ↑ "Landschaftsarchitektur der Zukunft auf dem Vitra Campus". ZEIT ONLINE (in German). 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ↑ Eschbach, Andrea (2023-03-30). "Der Traum vom Paradies | Espazium". www.espazium.ch (in German). Retrieved 2025-06-22.