Industrial Landscape 01

Commissioned by: Gallery Christian Ouwens
Year: 2015
Dimensions: 210 x 267 x 341 cm
Materials: Steel, oak wood, glass, linoleum, black mdf
Paintings: Armando
Material Teddy: Makiko Shinoda
Photography: Studio Mieke Meijer

Industrial Landscape 01  is a staircase installation developed for Christian Ouwens’ gallery in Rotterdam (NL). The installation connects the ground floor with the first floor and combines its stairway function with spaces for storage, collection and display.

Industrial Landscape 01  relates to earlier installations by Studio Mieke Meijer that are inspired by Bernd & Hilla Becher's photographs. The Bechers are renowned for their systematic black and white photo series of industrial buildings that closely resemble each other in function and design. Following her own interpretation, Studio Mieke Meijer reconstructs and rescales the spatial imagery of these buildings into functional installations. The design of Industrial Landscape 01 was inspired by images of old quarry terrains where the landscape is dominated by the industrial installations build against the quarries’ slopes.

The staircase of Industrial Landscape 01 has a fixed position in the room and consists of a steel support structure with solid oak stairs. The surrounding volumes are freestanding and not attached to the space, allowing the user to move them around freely and deploy them as (display) furniture anywhere in the room. The volumes are made of solid oak combined with black MDF drawers, glass panels and linoleum-clad shelves.

Industrial Landscape 01 is part of an on-going series called ‘Industrial Archaeology’. Based on photos of Bernd & Hilla Becher, this series brings about a play with scale and volume within autonomous interior objects. Each object is individually interpreted and handmade in the Studio’s own workshop. The titles of the objects refer to the buildings’ original function.

The partnership with Ouwens started in 2012, when he asked Studio Mieke Meijer to show her work in his gallery.  The collaboration resulted in projects such as Winding Tower 01, which was designed exclusively for gallery Christian Ouwens.

Gallery Christian Ouwens is specialized in  autonomous and applied arts. A selection of artists and designers will be commissioned to enrich the gallery with unique works.