Whitney Bag

The Spring Summer 2018 Collection

Had one of your studios ever considered the idea of a prototype for a bag before?
This is our first such experience, and I believe it will remain the only one. We decided to take up the proposal by Max Mara because it was closely connected to the Whitney Museum of American Art and its upcoming opening to the public, and also with the intention of dedicating the profits to the Renzo Piano Foundation to finance its cultural and educational projects.

What kind of approach did you follow? Was there mainly a female hand behind the conception of the project, or was it a group effort?
One of the essential features of the RPBW studio is the conviction that the project process ought to be a creative, collaborative, technically stimulating adventure; so in this case too, the project was devised in close collaboration with the Max Mara creative office.

Did the homage to the WD museum influence the creativity that went into the bag? What were the poetic and innovative sides of the object?
The initial idea was very clear right from the start: our aim was to apply one of the most characteristic elements of the museum project – the façade – to the bag:
hence the idea of the modular strips enveloping the exterior.
We tried to maintain a simple, pure design, working only on the details by applying a creative use of technology and placing the accent on respect for the materials.

Why is it red on the inside? How would you define it? What material is it?
The inside is in suede. While seeking to maintain the simple lines, we wanted to add color as a surprise element. So we thought of red.

What are the innovative elements of this museum, from a structural and conceptual point of view?
The most interesting element was definitely the process: we worked along with the museum to create a building able to meet their needs, and above all able to correspond to their ideal model.
If I had to highlight two particular aspects that characterize the building, I would definitely focus on the fact that the areas for preparing the exhibitions are closely connected to the exhibition rooms, which in turn stretch from the indoors outdoors onto the terraces. This creates a close connection between art spaces and the city.
As regards the building, the façade was one of the most complex elements to create, requiring a lengthy process of study and reflection.

What about the numbers of the project? Size, figures, people involved.
The museum is about 20,000 m2 in size, with 4500 m2 of exhibition space indoors plus 1200 m2 of exhibition space outdoors.
The large gallery for temporary exhibitions, measuring 1600 m2, is currently the largest gallery without columns in New York.
A large number of people are involved in projects of this size. A varied group of professionals works on each RPBW project, from a number of fields and with different skills:
engineers, specialized technicians, landscape architects, anthropologists and artists.

The most striking element of exchange will be art, culture, light or….
Our hope is that the light and the transparency of the spaces and the art will be able to create a cultural exchange between the museum and the community of the district, and with the city on a wider scale.
This is why our aim was to design an inviting building, one that rather than taking possession of the space on the ground can be glimpsed from the street. A museum is a place of major civic importance, and it’s right that it should be transparent and accessible.

Special thanks to Elisabetta Trezzani, partner of Renzo Piano Building Workshop