In November the Vitra Design Museum in Weil on Rhine will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of its foundation. To mark its birthday, the Museum is opening its doors to the general public on November 8. Alongside architecture tours and tours of the current exhibition “Antikörper. Arbeiten von Fernando & Humberto Campana 1989-2009”, visitors will also have the opportunity to see the part of the Museum’s collection which is not normally open to the public.

As one of the world’s first design museums, on November 3, 1989 the Vitra Design Museum presented its very first exhibition in the museum building designed by the Californian architect Frank Gehry. Under the leadership of its Director Alexander von Vegesack, who still holds the position today, the Museum has presented exhibitions of works by artists including Ron Arad, Isamu Noguchi, Frank Lloyd Wright and Joe Colombo, as well as the successful retrospective on Le Corbusier in 2007/2008, which was recently on show at the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin, the last station of a tour lasting several years. Many of the Vitra Design Museum’s exhibitions are based on its own collection of industrial furniture designs, which includes the legacies of designers such as Verner Panton, Charles Eames and George Nelson. Alongside its exhibition activities, the Vitra Design Museum also regularly organizes workshops, talks, guided tours and symposiums.

November 3rd 1989, Vitra Design Museum opened its doors. Apart from being housed in Frank Gehry's first European building, Vitra Design Museum counts among the first institutions devoted exclusively to research in the field of industrial furniture design and its popularization. Since 1989, the museum has performed a programme which occupies a singular position in the international design world. Its exhibitions by now not only featured single designers such as Isamu Noguchi, Frank Lloyd Wright and Joe Colombo, but displayed complex shows on subjects like mobile furniture, furniture for children, or designs for the aircraft industry. The museum's projects conducted so far also meant a re-discovery of themes and surprising events such as the first exhibition on Issey Miyake in Germany, or excursions into ethnology on subjects like African seats and Arab housing culture. In 2007/2008, one of the most successful shows which ever took place at the museum was the retrospective "Le Corbusier - The Art of Architecture".

They would like to celebrate our 20th anniversary by inviting you to Weil am Rhein for the Open Day on Sunday November 8, 2009. Beside guided tours comprising the Vitra Campus and the current exhibition  "ANTIBODIES – Works by Fernando and Humberto Campana 1989 – 2009", visitors will also be given the opportunity to see our collection which will be opened to the public that day. In addition, we will be offering a children’s educational programme covering the entire day where, depending on their individual handicraft skills, young designers may construct their personal Eames elephant from recycled materials, either as a miniature or a piece of jewellery.

Open Day at Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, 8 November 2009
Opening hours: 10 – 18 h
Admission: free.

11h00
Guided tour through the exhibition for children

11h00/ 13h00/ 15h00
Guided tour through the exhibition for adults

11h00/ 12h00/ 13h00/ 14h00/ 15h00/ 16h00
Guided tour Vitra Campus

11h00/ 12h00/ 13h00/ 14h00/ 15h00/ 16h00
Guided tour through the collection