When you arrive at the campus, you’ll pass Claes Oldenburg and
Coosje van Bruggen’s Balancing Tools (1984). It was the couple’s
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to their father on the occasion of Willi Fehlbaum’s 70th birthday. In
primary colours, towering pliers and a screwdriver appear to have
been thrust into the earth, a hammer lying across them like a lin-
tel. Acting as a deconstructivist backdrop to the precarious balan-
cing act of the sculpture is the Vitra Design Museum (1989). The
Vitra Design Museum ranks among the most important museums
of design worldwide. It is housed in a remarkable building by the
California architect Frank O. Gehry where the museum stages two
to three exhibitions each year on historical and current develop-
ments in design. These exhibitions provide visitors with insights
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the inspirations, background information and processes of design
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other cultures. Outside, a perpendicular path leads away from the
museum to Tadao Ando’s sublime Conference Pavilion, shielded
from sight by unadorned concrete walls guiding visitors into the
building’s serene interior.
