BJARKE INGELS AND HANS ULRICH OBRIST DISCUSS THE CONCEPTUALISATION OF MUSEUMS WITH AUDEMARS PIGUET IN VENICE

Audemars Piguet presented a dynamic conversation between Danish architect Bjarke Ingels and Hans Ulrich Obrist, noted curator and artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries in London, during the Venice Architecture Biennale vernissage week. The talk, which focused on the Conceptualisation and Construction of Museums, took place at the historic Bauer Hotel along the Grand Canal and was followed by a cocktail event.

The conversation moderated by Michael Friedman, Audemars Piguet’s in house historian, offered a rare glimpse into the long-standing friendship and clear collaborative spirit between Ingels and Obrist. A livestream of the talk, hosted by Dezeen reached over 13,000 viewers around the globe in real-time.

“In watchmaking, the form is the content. The architecture of the watch is the content of the watch. This is where watchmaking and architecture are related,” said Ingels, in referring to his winning design selected for Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet and experience visiting the Swiss Manufacture.

The Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) was selected by Audemars Piguet to realise the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet. The winning design, a spiraling glass museum that will coil up from the landscape with a ground-breaking structure entirely supported by curved glass walls, is set to open to the public in early 2020. Located in the Swiss Vallée de Joux, cradle of Haute Horlogerie, it will be the only one of its kind in Europe. In keeping with the storied legacy of Audemars Piguet, it will be linked and juxtaposed to the original museum dating from 1868, which was also the original Audemars family home.

Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet will occupy 2,400 square metres (25,800 square feet) and encapsulate a new exhibition space for its timepieces as well as traditional workshops and storage for Audemars Piguet’s archives. BIG’s design enables a dynamic interweaving of past and present and speaks to how we utilise public spaces.

A further topic brought up by Obrist during the talk was that of “art for all and architecture for all.” Obrist was speaking on the concept of the super city and this year’s Biennale theme of “Freespace”, celebrating our global public spaces.

At the conclusion of the talk, Obrist handed Ingels a bright red card on which to “doodle” for Obrist’s noteworthy Instagram account, which captures hundreds of drawings and messages by artists, architects and noteworthy figures from creative industries around the globe, reaching over 220,000 followers. “Give form to the future” was Ingels’ message.