The recently opened design museum in the suburbs of Tel Aviv was built in hopes of transforming the city of Holon into an epicenter of culture and education. To that end they brought in a famous architect and renowned group of international guest curators to make the museum famous. The Design Museum Holon was designed by Ron Arad Architects, led by Tel Aviv born industrial designer and architect, Ron Arad. After four years of construction the museum was inaugurated on January 31st, 2010 and its first exhibition just opened.
The structure itself is not merely a box to house works of art and design, rather it is meant to be the first exhibit visitors see when coming to the museum. Arad’s creation is most notably characterized by the metal ribbons wrapping around the building. Five sinuous bands of varying shades of Corten weathered steel form the exterior facade casting curvaceous shadows down onto an outdoor courtyard, by which the visitors enter. Inside are various exhibition halls, gallery spaces, a design lab and an archival collection for the many shows the museum soon hopes to hold within its confines.
The museum’s first show, “The State of Things: Design and the 21st Century,” is open to the public from April 3rd to May 15th, and features 100 objects that collectively reflect issues concerning the practice, consumption and cultural impact of contemporary international design. Visitors can tour the museum with state of the art technology like a touch-screen audiovisual guide to gain a better understanding of the objects they are seeing. An international group of curators, (Aric Chen, Julie Lasky, Garth Walker, led by Barbara Bloemink, formerly of the Cooper-Hewitt), was pulled together to create the show.
Galit Gaon, artistic director of the museum, says that the mission of the museum is to “educate the Israeli public about design.” The city of Holon hopes that the construction of this “iconic building” will elevate the field of design into a leading position on the Israeli cultural agenda. The design museum joins the ranks of the Holon Institute of Technology, Mediatheque and the National Israeli Cartoon Museum, which were also founded in Holon.
