Designed by MAD Architects, the FENIX Museum of Migration is set to be inaugurated in 2025 in Rotterdam’s City Harbor. The purpose of the institution is to showcase and highlight the stories of global migration through encounters with art, architecture, photography, and history. The project includes the rehabilitation of the 16,000 square meter building on site, once the largest warehouse in the world functioning as the center for storage and shipping for the Holland-America Line - a Dutch cargo and passenger line. The institution facilitated the journey of millions of migrants in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The new museum aims to continue to explore this story of human migration. As such, the ground floor will be occupied by three keynote projects: the Maze, a monumental installation made up of 2,000 donated suitcases; the “Family of Migrants” photographic installation composed of documentary images and portraits delving into the themes raised by human movement, family love, the danger of the voyage, and saying goodbye; and a vast flexible space of 2,275 square meters aiming to encourage a new approach for the curatorial role of the museum.
The sculptural structure comprises two spiral staircases that break down the massive scale of the original warehouse, adding more human-scale and intimate spaces. The centerpiece, known as the Tornado, is an organic structure symbolizing migration journeys. The organic structure climbs from the ground floor and flows up and out of the rooftop. Climbing its stairs, visitors will take in stunning views across Rotterdam and the River Maas.
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