Unveiled recently, the Vitra Designweg (path) leads directly from the tram stop in the city centre of Germany’s Weil am Rhein town to the Vitra Campus.
The twelve glass columns conceived by the designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec present highlights of modern furniture design from the renowned collection of the Vitra Design Museum – a cultural institution complex that has been designed by some of the most celebrated architects in the world. Drawing on the 200-year-old archives of the famous Vitra repository, the collection includes iconic pieces from the 19th-century Vienna Coffee House Chair by Thonet, to pieces by Le Corbusier, and Charles and Ray Eames.
As an educational trail, the Vitra Designweg enriches the urban landscape and conveys an important topic of cultural history. The walk begins at the final stop of tram line 8 and runs along the pedestrian path next to Basler Strasse and Müllheimer Strasse to the south entrance of the Vitra Campus. The start of the Vitra Designweg in Weil am Rhein can be reached with line 8 from Basel in less than 20 minutes.
The furniture miniatures produced by the Vitra Design Museum have acquired cult status. In 1992, the museum began to reproduce meticulously handcrafted design classics at a scale of 1:6, replicating even the smallest details of their original counterparts. Whether as accessories for design fans, collectibles for design devotees or study objects for scholars, the miniatures make designs that were often produced in very limited editions available to a larger circle of collectors and enthusiasts. The objects are available in the Vitra Design Museum Shops – both online on the Vitra Campus as well as the Vitra website.
Images: Dejan Jovanovic ©Vitra
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