Display Cases at Fenix Museum of Migration | Goppion

The Fenix Art Museum about Migration, opened on May 16, 2025, in Rotterdam’s historic Fenix warehouse, represents a bold intersection of adaptive reuse, cultural memory, and architectural storytelling. Situated on the Katendrecht Peninsula, the museum occupies a site that once served as a major hub for the Holland-America Line, facilitating the migration of millions from Europe to the Americas. Built in 1923, the Fenix warehouse was then the largest of its kind globally, making it a highly resonant setting for a museum centered on the theme of human movement.

The museum is the first European commission for MAD Architects, the Beijing-based practice led by Ma Yansong. Their design preserves the historic industrial identity of the warehouse while injecting it with a dynamic contemporary intervention: The Tornado. This 30-meter spiraling tower of polished stainless steel rises dramatically from the heart of the building and acts as both an architectural and narrative anchor, drawing visitors physically and emotionally through the museum.

Exhibition Design and Integration
The spatial and curatorial brief—led by curator Roland Buschmann—called for display solutions that could adapt to a wide range of media, from delicate archival materials and sculpture to immersive installations. These solutions had to support modular layouts within the vast open-plan galleries while preserving visual coherence and narrative flow.

Goppion delivered a full suite of custom-engineered museum display systems, including:

• 14 Q Class free-standing vitrines
  Free-standing vitrines, offering flexibility within large open floorplates
  
  
• 28 hybrid plinths with glass vitrines
  Capped with transparent vitrines, enabling focused object presentation
  
  
• 8 B Class table display cases with lifting glass boxes
  With fully liftable glass covers for accessible, protected viewing
  
  
• 17 self-supporting partition walls
  Not simply spatial dividers, these elements contribute to the exhibition’s architectural language. Designed with integrated bases, they define zones without interfering with the building’s openness.
  
  
• 25 podia and 26 plinths
  Developed in coordination with curators and architects, these elements maintain consistent proportions, finishes, and material palettes—contributing to the overall minimalist aesthetic.

These elements were not only functional but integral to maintaining architectural coherence, contributing to an experience that is both immersive and legible.

Material Culture as Spatial Expression

• Among the most striking installations is a collection of 116 clay heads by artist Efrat Zehavi, each representing an individual from Rotterdam's diverse communities. These are displayed in custom Goppion cases, creating a sculptural ensemble that acts as a microcosm of the museum’s central thesis—migration as both shared and personal experience.
  
  
• Another focal point is the inclusion of Willem de Kooning’s Man in Wainscott (1969), housed in a bespoke Goppion case. The presentation highlights the material contrast between the artist’s gestural abstraction and the precision containment of the display, reflecting the broader curatorial theme of movement versus containment.

Architectural Ethos
The Fenix Art Museum exemplifies a layered architectural approach, wherein adaptive reuse, contemporary intervention, and narrative integration converge. MAD’s Tornado acts as both sculpture and infrastructure, while the overall design by Goppion and curatorial team respects the spatial DNA of the original warehouse without compromising accessibility or clarity.

Learn more: fenix.nl