Calder Gardens Opens in Philadelphia with Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf

Calder Gardens, the first site entirely dedicated to Alexander Calder, will open on September 21 in Philadelphia along Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The project is a collaboration between Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron (Pritzker Prize winners in 2001) and Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf. The 1,600-square-meter exhibition space features a metal cladding that connects the architecture with the environment. Inside, rotating works from the Calder Foundation in New York will be displayed. Outside, native plants and flowers designed by Oudolf will interact with the building and Calder's sculptures. The venue will host concerts, conferences, screenings, performances, and readings curated by Juana Berrio, formerly a curatorial consultant for sustainability at the Whitney Museum of American Art, now named Marsha Perelman Senior Director of Programs. Alexander S. C. Rower, Calder's grandson and president of the Calder Foundation, described the institution as a new type focused on introspection and personal growth through art and his grandfather's ideas.