Not everyone is given a cultural centre as a gift! But there are smart businessmen capable of such gestures: Reinhold Würth, last July 18th, celebrated his wife’s 80th birthday with the opening of the Forum, designed by David Chipperfield, dedicated to her.
Not only a gift to his wife, but to the whole community of Künzelsau, the place where the Adolf Würth company is based. Ares Line fitted out the concert hall with customized arm-chair designed by Giovanni Baccolini.
Reinhold Würth –a self made man 81 years od, 141th on Forbes lists 2016- from very young has been trying to reconcile his passion for the family business with his passion for art. One of the first acquisitions, in the 1960s, was a watercolour painting by Emil Nolde; today he has over 17,000 art works in his collection.
In 1987, he founded together with his wife Carmen the Würth Foundation which promotes art and culture, science and research.
The Carmen Würth Forum is the final stage of this path made of love for art.
The Forum is devoted for conventions, congresses, trade shows, symposiums and festive events; a conference centre and a museum for the Würth art collection are to follow in a second construction stage.
The new building designed by David Chipperfield Architects is embedded in the landscape, with the chamber music hall and the lower level of the event hall hidden beneath a natural mound. Incisions in the hillside establish two framed external spaces.
These are flanked by retaining walls, made of concrete. The larger southern forecourt leads to the main entrance and serves as a forum for diverse outdoor events and concerts.
The multi-purpose event hall, which is accessed from a naturally lit foyer, provides space for 3,500 people, and has a trussed-steel roof that obviates the need for internal columns. While the lower half of the hall is sunk into the ground, the upper gallery level rises above the highest point of the site and is glazed on all sides.
The foyer also provides access to the more intimate chamber music hall. This hall seats up to 600 people and is completely clad in walnut.
The company’s corporate colour of red runs throughout the design of the interior spaces, appearing in the seating of the chamber music hall as well as in the flooring of both the foyer and the event hall.
Ares Line, that supplied the seating for the chamber music hall is distinguished by its great capacity to meet customer requirements, going towards the need for customization.
The chair’s design comes from a project by David Chipperfield Architects. Since the beginning, the Ares Line technical team worked side by side with the Client’s designer to highlight the typical guidelines of an ergonomic and well built chair.
Ares Line also decided to pursue an alternative way planning a second prototype designed by Giovanni Baccolini, that integrates perfectly, becoming an unicum with the room, thanks to the choice of finishes with high aesthetic value. This chair was chosen for the music hall. Detail, but not negligible: the arm chairs are assembled with Würth’s components!
