Vitra: an architecture of context

Abstract

The Vitra company is a high quality Swiss furniture manufacturer with production rights to many of history's best chair designs; such as those by Michael Thonet, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, Harry Bertoia, Alessandro Mendini and Ron Arad. Their facilities are based within the area bound by the borders of Switzerland, Germany and France. In particular their major production factories are located in the town of Weil am Rhein, with their complex containing designs by such architectural contemporaries as Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Nicholas Grimshaw and Alvaro Siza. The basis for my research grew from a visit to Vitra, evolving from the thesis "the architecture of Vitra contains relationships of architectural vocabulary which unify the buildings of differing function into a singular expression of industry". Further study revealed the critical architectural issue was not industrial expression, but how contextual relationships between buildings have been established through dialogue. As a result the title evolved from Vitra: Architecture and Industry to Vitra: An Architecture of Context. This report provides the reader with a narrative on the use of context and its various implications in architecture. Conclusions are drawn from a series of critical examinations on the issue of establishing architectural relationships and their use within the specific situation of Vitra. The result of the research provides a better understanding of the effective expression of architectural vocabulary beyond that of simply a functional coding role.