Circular openings sliced into an existing brick wall provide views through to exhibition spaces inside this shoe museum, which Amsterdam-based Civic Architects designed in Waaliwijk, the Netherlands.
The Schoenenkwartier Museum presents the history of shoe design and production in Waaliwijk, which for centuries was an important centre for traditional craft within the North Brabant region.
Arched windows were added to let in more light
Civic Architects was tasked with converting a cluster of heritage-listed buildings to house a collection of 12,000 objects, along with other museum facilities, a cafe, and laboratories for design and prototyping.
The Raadhuis ensemble was designed by architect Alexander Kropholler to accommodate functions associated with the original town hall. It was built in phases in the 1930s and expanded in the 1980s with the addition of an office block. Civic Architects added "subtly subversive" design details
The Shoe Museum extends the principles applied by Kropholler in his original design, with the original layout of open arcades and a small kiosk complemented by new arched windows framed in thick oak.
"We applied subtly subversive design details to nuance Alexander Kropholler's overly restrictive and rigid architectural views," said Civic Architects.
"As such, the addition is not a fashionable or contradictory icon, but a fresh new chapter in the historically layered story of the building."
The museum has a generous foy...