A permanent tribute to the architect of the Bonnefanten

Three decades after the opening of the new building in 1995, the Bonnefanten is launching a tribute to Aldo Rossi (Milan, 1931–1997). The museum on the banks of the Meuse is a masterpiece from his later years. But Aldo Rossi was so much more than just an architect.

For millions of Maastricht residents and tourists, the Bonnefanten’s dome has become a familiar landmark of the city on the Meuse. Less well known is the story behind the building. With this new exhibition, Bonnefanten is set to change that. Through drawings, paintings, models, furniture, (design) objects and archive material, the world of Aldo Rossi unfolds: a world in which architecture and memory, art and everyday life are inextricably linked.

Aldo Rossi, a creative thinker

Aldo Rossi (1931–1997) was much more than just an architect. He was also a writer, theorist, critic, artist, teacher and designer. His buildings seem simultaneously familiar and enigmatic, referring to archetypes from the city whilst also evoking personal memories and experiences. This idea also forms the foundation of his design for Bonnefanten.

Bonnefanten as a Gesamtkunstwerk

Particular attention is paid to Rossi’s original interior design for the Bonnefanten Museum. When the museum opened in 1995, the central section of the building was a Gesamtkunstwerk in which the architecture, furniture and interior design formed a single cohesive whole. Over the past thirty years, some of this has disappeared or changed. The entire ensemble of museum furniture that was produced by Molteni&C and UniFor has been returned to the museum for the new presentation.

The person at play

For Rossi, architecture was not only a way of thinking but also a form of creative play. Ideas, images and shapes recur throughout his body of work, each time in a different form or on a different scale. Rossi never limited himself to architecture alone. Rossi had a fascination with everyday objects. In his long-standing collaborations with design producers such as Alessi and Bruno Longoni Atelier d’ arredamento the boundary between buildings, furniture and everyday objects became blurred. A coffeepot could become a tower; a cupboard could become a building. Several of these designs will be included in the permanent exhibition.

Graphics and posters

For the presentation in the former library, Bonnefanten draws, amongst other things, on two exceptional ensembles from its own collection: Rossi’s Opera Grafica comprising nearly a hundred works, as well as an extensive collection of exhibition posters.

Città analoga/The analogue city

As a professor in Zurich in 1976, Rossi created a large exhibition piece for the Venice Biennale with Eraldo Consolascio, Bruno Reichlin and Fabio Reinhart on the theme of the relationship between the city centre and the periphery. It was a collage of dozens of photocopies from architectural treatises and quoted works by famous architects, interspersed with drawings of their own works. A new edition of Città analoga, the map by Dr Dario Rodighiero, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies, has also been produced for this presentation. It is published by the University of Groningen.

Aldo Rossi: Darling Architecture- film

To mark the launch of the permanent exhibition, Muse Factory director Francesca Molteni produced a short film about Aldo Rossi. Beatrice Lampariello, Professor of the History of Architecture at UCLouvain, guides visitors through Rossi’s unique way of thinking about architecture, the city and life. Through his work, ideas and his own words, a personal portrait emerges of an architect for whom memory, imagination and reality were constantly intertwined.
The film will be shown in a specially designed screening room.

Aldo Rossi: Darling Architecture was developed by former curator Ton Quik and produced in close collaboration with the Fondazione Aldo Rossi in Milan.

This exhibition has been made possible in part by Provincie Limburg en Fondazione Aldo Rossi