ARCHIef

Artist’s Studio  |  Amsterdam  |  the Netherlands

Archief is the response to the challenge of the Nieuw en Meer Foundation’s for the exhibition Atelier Malkovich: ‘Design an innovative and functional studio building for the contemporary artist in the light of his changed social position and working method.’

The contemporary artist is an archivist in shiny white sneakers and skinny jeans. He works and operates in the contemporary context of cities, villages and the country. From Coffee Company to exhibition space. From carpentry workshop to gallery. He observes and saves. Preserves and collects. He needs a place to store and archive all the knowledge, inspiration and material he collects. A secure archive, a safe. For downloading and uploading. Kept safely under lock and key.

The design has been executed on an eccentrically dimensioned 1:2 scale on the forecourt of artist complex Nieuw en Meer. The archive’s façade is clad in a shiny material that reflects its surroundings and the passers-by. Alien and attractive, yet impregnable to strangers. Only the owner knows what to do. The large vault doors are almost indiscernible. Strangers have to look hard to find the entrance. Inside, the archive is fitted with wooden shelves, racks and Shaker hooks. The semi-transparent inner façade provides a view of the courtyard. The wooden patio doors were found in the trash. A large dining table can be pulled into the garden. In the summer, bees buzz beneath the tree. A narrow cut-out allows passers-by to peek inside, into the garden. On tiptoe, they can just manage to look over the edge, with the owner crawling underneath them inside the archive.