Lost Mendini interior surfaces in Amsterdam photo exhibition

A little-known interior design project by Alessandro Mendini in Amsterdam, created for former Groninger Museum director Frans Haks, has been documented in photographs now on view at Amstelkerk. The project, completed in 2001, transformed an old canal house at Recht Boomssloot 41 with a geometric facade and vibrant neo-kitsch interiors. It remained unknown until 2018, when Monuments and Archaeology Institute staff discovered it after Haks's partner Johan Ambaum died, leaving the property to the Rijksmuseum Foundation under the Ambaum Haks Foundation. The foundation aimed to enrich the museum's applied arts collection. Curators removed objects and sold the building, which was subsequently altered, erasing all traces of Mendini's work. Photographer Alberto Ferrero captured the interiors in the early 2000s. From July 13 to August 20, 2021, these images are exhibited at Amstelkerk as part of "Amsterdam style rooms," free admission. Mendini, who died in 2019, designed the Proust Armchair (1978) and co-designed the Groninger Museum (1994) with Michele de Lucchi, Philippe Starck, and Coop Himmelb(l)au.