Museum Villa Stuck, Munich
Designer
Sabine Marcelis
Location
Germany
Villa Stuck was built in 1897 and 1898 by the painter and sculptor Franz von Stuck. He conceived it as an expression of his vision of Gesamtkunstwerk, a "total work of art," where architecture, painting, sculpture, music, and daily life all merge into one, blurring the line between art and life.
Since then, the museum has presented exhibitions that trace artistic and cultural developments from the nineteenth century to the present. Keeping pace with that role, the Munich based architecture practice ansa studios has just completed a refurbishment of its foyer, the space where visitors first step into Stuck's world.
Renovating a museum with such a legacy meant that any new addition had to answer to that same idea of unity, not break away from it. ansa studios approached the renovation with exactly that in mind. For the foyer, that meant choosing materials that feel contemporary without competing with the historic building around them.
ansa studios worked in hand finished stainless steel and aluminium for the foyer's counters and surfaces. That same material continues into the furniture. The tables and chairs are from Sabine Marcelis' Stedelijk Collection for BD Barcelona, made entirely of aluminium. Weatherproof, stackable, and durable enough for public use, they share the same material language as the rest of the room. In doing so, they carry Stuck's Gesamtkunstwerk forward, one unified whole rather than separate parts.
This way, the chairs and tables carry Stuck's vision forward. Someone pausing for coffee at one of the tables takes part in that same idea: daily life belongs inside the work of art, not outside it. In a museum built on that belief, the Stedelijk collection is exactly where it belongs.
*Stedelijk Chair available now; Stedelijk Table launching 2027
