Case Studies

The legacy of the Messner Mountain Museum

The Messner Mountain Museum, born of the passion of Mountaineer and Statesman Reinold Messner, is dedicated to man’s encounter with mountains. The museum complex is comprised of five small museum buildings located throughout the Alps, each with individual exhibitions, all devoted to the intimate relationship between man and the mountains throughout the centuries and the world.

Each develop a specific theme: the people, ice, rocks, the religious significance of the peaks, and finally, in the charming location of Castle Firmian, an overview of the universal significance of mountains and the region.

“Mountains are a great repository of knowledge” Messner states “that starts from matter, moves through mankind and is finally realized in art. I wanted to build the Mountain Museum to communicate the varied aspects of this extraordinary culture, and leave a sort of personal legacy: a collection of objects, images, and experiences to share with all who love nature and man”.

The Messner Mountain Museum invites visitors to rediscover the essential value of living with nature. Norma chairs can be found in the intimate interior spaces of the Castle Firmian. Palm chairs are used in exterior, public spaces. Fred tables are visibile throughout. Their inclusion reflects Arper’s like desire to create essential and immediate design, intuitively evocative of natural forms that fit seamlessly and elegantly into their context.

Photo credits: Juergen Eheim

Arper at the Topography of Terror

The Topography of Terror is a museum and memorial located in Berlin at the site of the national headquarters of the SS and Gestapo program of persecution and annihilation, dedicated to presenting and understanding the European dimensions of the Nazi reign of terror.

Between 1933 and 1945, the headquarters of the Gestapo and SS headquarters –the Reich Security Main Office, the SS High Command, Security Service of the SS High Command and prison- were located on the present-day grounds of the Topography of Terror. The original buildings that housed the organization were leveled shortly after the end of the Second World War and the lingered, “historically contaminated” subject to random uses and eventual decay. In conjunction with Berlin’s 750th anniversary celebration in 1987, the site was open to the public as for reflection, research and education.

After the German reunification in 1992, a foundation was established to develop the site and an architectural competition was held to create a more permanent structure for exhibition. Architect Peter Zumthor was chosen though the winning entry was never completely built. In 2010, after almost a decade of delay, the Topography of Terror Documentation Center designed by architect Ursula Wilms of Heinle, Wischer und Partner in Berlin opened to the public.

The museum is an unusual cultural artifact, yet an important one. Located at an ominous address, fallow for many years, the overall site intentionally retains the rough, depopulated look it acquired over its years of abandonment. It is one of a very few memorial museums located on an authentic site.

The architecture is a cool, glass rectangle sheathed in steel lamellae, a perforated, screen-like surface, which yields views of the surroundings from almost anywhere on the ground floor. The building houses three permanent exhibitions, a varied program of temporary and special exhibitions, an extensive library, as well as a “Memorial Museums Department” that consults on initiatives institutionalizing national and international memorial sites.

Catifa chairs and Dizzie tables are employed throughout the museum’s offices, conference rooms, auditorium and waiting rooms.

Photo credits: Matthias Könsgen

At home with rich minimalism

The intimate Danish summer house, designed by Mette and Martin Wienberg, is a rigorous play of light, material and volume. The design is simple and abstract; the hard lines of concrete and steel are tempered by the warmth of wood, and softened by leather and fur, white curtains, large windows, and soft lighting. The result is a sense of intimacy– a ‘warm cove’, beautiful, functional and cosy, where every family member can find their own space. It is unpretentious and simple, in harmony with tradition. “If you have quiet rooms, the views of the garden look almost like paintings,” Mette says.

This portrait of rich minimalism called for very particular furnishings. The chairs would be almost the only true furniture – repeated, in different settings, throughout the house. They should coexist peacefully with the design, while serving the varied needs of the family within.
Catifa were the perfect chairs. Sleek, clean, and flexible, they meld wood, concrete, leather and landscape and are completely at home.

“We fell in love with furniture from Arper right away. The furniture has a kind personality…it is classic yet contemporary, it contains past, present and future. And it is comfortable. The contrast between the natural leather and the steel creates a balance that fits well in the design and atmosphere of our home. ,” says Mette Wienberg. “And,” she adds, “only really comfortable furniture was allowed.”

Photo credits: Mikkel Rahr Mortensen, Gitte Kjær

Take a seat at TEMMA

It used to be that every neighborhood in Germany had what was called a Tante Emma Laden, or mom-and-pop shop. Now a new market in Cologne with the clever name TEMMA is bringing back local, organic offerings and a gemütlich ambience in an updated form.

TEMMA’s designers chose Arper’s Catifa 53 chairs to populate the eco-friendly market’s open dining space which features a comfortable place to sit for coffee, wine or a nibble.

Says Managing Director of TEMMA, Christiane Speck, “In searching for chairs for TEMMA, we wanted more than versatility, light weight and aesthetic appeal. We were also looking for a model of sustainability. Arper’s Catifa Collection, which has received many awards for its low environmental impact, embodies these criteria perfectly. That the chairs also convenient and robust for everyday use sealed our decision. Now we help our customers make sustainable choices everyday simply by sitting down to relax and enjoy the environment”.

Photo credits: TEMMA

Heldergroen: Adapt, Reuse, Recycle

Whether driven by passion or the relentless demands of change, design is a full time job, 24/7. Now, Netherlands-based Zecc Architects has designed a flexible, multi-use office space for the communications firm Heldergroen in Harlem that helps accommodate and diversify round-the-clock studio life.

The studio space is organized by glass walls and three large tables that can be individually hoisted up to the ceiling, computers and all. This allows an open playing field for extracurricular activities: an evening lecture, a dinner party, the promotion of a new product, an exhibition or an even a yoga class. In this way, the office truly multiple use. Beyond function, the winchable tables are also ideal for preventing burglary.

The hoist installation was designed and engineered by a collaborator working in the world of fly lofts and set design: the tables disappear into large ceiling recesses equipped with LED and acoustic paneled ceiling surfaces. Many of the architectural elements and surfaces are constructed with recycled materials: kitchen panels are created from flattened car doors, the table surfaces are made of reclaimed telegraph poles.

Amid all this adaptive reuse, the Arper Catifa Collection creates a stylistic and conceptual thread through the space. Catifa 53 chairs sit at every desk, flexible enough to work pragmatically for all the functions the multi-use office demands, aesthetically distinctive enough to lend a visual signature to the space overall. Furthermore, in keeping with the spirit of the design, their environmental impact is evaluated through the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), which measures the environmental impact of a product from the extraction of raw materials, through the production process, to the use and disposal to complement the overall sustainable goals of the scheme.

Dutch Design Awards Heldergroen from Heldergroen

Title: Studio Heldergroen
Property: Droste silo
Location: Haarlem, The Netherlands
Photographer: CornbreadWorks

Leaf at Birdbath
New Museum
New York

City Bakery has opened an outpost of their famous Birdbath Café on the ground floor of the New Museum on the Bowery. Arper Leaf chairs surround the café’s square and communal tables, creating a gathering place for museum visitors and the creative community of New York City.

The café, founded twenty years ago by acclaimed baker Maury Rubin, is known for its outstanding food and baked treats, its forward-thinking practices and a strong focus on the environment. Birdbath is an example of the meeting of good design and sustainability.

The Leaf Chair was chosen for the café by the New Museum and Birdbath for its award-winning design and for Arper’s company-wide commitment to minimize its environmental impact at every stage of the chair’s production.

Photo: Michael Moran