The new bookshop at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum will be opened by the museum's director, Axel Rüger, on Monday 28 January. We took care of the design of the bookshop.
The renovation of the bookshop had two aims: to enable visitors to the museum to gain more inspiration and continue their experience in the new space, and to demonstrate how the bookshop, with its knowledge of Van Gogh and his contemporaries, is able to increase sales. Our concept was that if Van Gogh was alive today, the bookshop would be his studio.
The bookshop on the third floor is now a space that is flooded with daylight. A window has been added as a subtle reference to Van Gogh's obsession with the quality of the light in France. The window's bright light stands in stark contrast to the light level in the rest of the museum. The bookshop's entrance has been modified so that it now appears to be twice as large. Many sketches and other elements from Van Gogh's work are used to display books and other products. The work of Van Gogh has been abstracted to create “Van Gogh's studio”, for which several items of furniture were also designed. For example, the bedside table from the painting “The Bedroom” (1888) has been recreated as a piece of furniture that can be used for displays, while the French chair from the same painting can be used as a place to take a rest or sit and read. Visitors can also express themselves artistically at an easel, where they are invited to try out pens and pencils.
At the back of the bookshop, the large, framed window catches the visitor's eye. It offers a view of the Van Gogh library on the other side of Museumplein and acts as an invitation to visit the library (free entry).
We worked with a great partner Hypsos on this project who was responsible for the implementation.
