Pop Up Store by Kéré Architects, Camper & Vitra

Today, in conjunction with the ‘Making Africa’ exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum, Vitra and Camper are jointly launching a pop-up project for three months in the Dome on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein. This project was designed by the Burkina Faso-born and Berlin-trained architect Diébédo Francis Kéré. He was commissioned with the task of erecting a temporary structure beneath the light-flooded cupola of the Buckminster Fuller Dome from 1978, which has stood on the Vitra Campus since 2000. The aim was to create a contemporary brand architecture with a distinct identity that would not compete with the historic construction. Kéré is known for his use of natural and sustainable materials. Along with the wood wall construction, the floor in the central part of the installation is covered with mats woven out of seagrass, or ‘esparto’ as they are called in Mallorca. With such elements, he makes reference to Camper’s ecological approach, but also to his own architectural works in Africa, which incorporate traditional and local building materials. This project gives visitors to the Vitra Campus a chance to experience a real-life example of Kéré’s work.

For the CEO’s Gilbert Achermann and Nora Fehlbaum from Vitra, the collaboration with Miquel Fluxà from Camper presents a welcome opportunity to demonstrate the competence of its retail segment to a wider public. The two companies have long been familiar with one another and, notwithstanding their different areas of business activity, have many things in common. Both have operated for generations as family-owned businesses. Both stand for innovative and high-quality products that are continually refined and perfected. Both have significant collections and archives in their respective fields and make use of the knowledge concentrated within these holdings for their own product development. Finally, both are design-driven and associated with some of the same designers – such as Konstantin Grcic, Jasper Morrison or Hella Jongerius. It is quite possible that the cooperation explored in the pop-up project could mark the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the two partners.

All crédits: © Vitra

Here is a video to admire the Making Of:

The project will cover all summer for 3 months from today.