Herzog & de Meuron Designs Calder Gallery & Sculpture Gardens

Swiss architect Herzog & de Meuron is working alongside Dutch landscaper Piet Oudolf on the design of a gallery dedicated to the works of the American sculptor Alexander Calder. Calder Gardens will consist of two sculpture parks and an 18,000 square feet structure clad in reflective metal to blend into its surroundings. Large windows will illuminate the internal galleries and frame Calder’s work in the external gardens. The gardens will present a rotating selection of works from the Calder Foundation in New York, including mobiles, stabiles (that is, stationary mobiles), monumental sculptures and paintings.Featuring a building conceived by Pritzker Prize-winning design practice Herzog & de Meuron and gardens by internationally acclaimed Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf, Calder Gardens is dedicated to the art and ideas of Alexander Calder, a native Philadelphian who is considered one of the most innovative and influential artists of the 20th century.Featuring galleries illuminated by natural light, in a structure ensconced in a flowing landscape of native and flowering species, Calder Gardens will present a rotating selection of masterworks from the Calder Foundation, New York, including mobiles, stabiles, monumental sculptures, and paintings. Installed both indoors and outdoors, Calder’s art will be in constant dialogue with nature and the changing atmospheres of the seasons. Calder Gardens will provide the public with a singular place for contemplation and reflection, as well as abundant opportunities for learning and community building through a schedule of inclusive public programs and special events.Calder was born in Philadelphia in 1898, and his connections to the city are grounded in the rich artistic lineage of his family. A trio of iconic installations by three generations of Calders can be found along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway: at the southeast end, atop City Hall, stands the monumental statue William Penn (c. 1886–94) by the artist’s grandfather Alexander Milne Calder; at the midpoint sits Swann Memorial Fountain (1924) by his father Alexander Stirling Calder; and at the northwest end is Calder’s own 1964 mobile The Ghost, which hangs majestically in the main hall of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Thus Calder Gardens brings into the 21st century the legacy of a Philadelphia family whose work has defined and enriched the city for over a century.

Herzog & de Meuron Designs Calder Gallery & Sculpture Gardens

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