Wall House #2
A. J. Lutulistraat 17, 9728 WT Groningen, The Netherlands
Comfortzone
From August 30 to October 26, Comfortzone presents three photographers, one of whom is also a visual artist, who explore boundaries: those of the medium of photography and of themselves. While each creator uses photography as a starting point, the outcomes differ greatly.
The artist Emily Wortel is fascinated by the human body, looking and being looked at. Her sculptures combine photographic images with three-dimensional forms, so visitors can truly view the works from different angles. Here, Comfortzone is about intimacy, physical presence and vulnerability.
On the top floor, the photographers Sander Martens and Anita Oosterloo are exhibiting Kofferconversaties. This joint project constitutes a step outside a familiar way of working for each of them. The photographs that make up Kofferconversaties are personal, intuitive and experimental. Martens and Oosterloo invite exhibition visitors to take part in the project by creating a composition and a photograph that fit into the existing series.
Comfortzone is an exhibition about form, position and the search for new perspectives , for the makers as well as the viewer.
About the artists
Emily Wortel (Amsterdam, 1979) grew up in Groningen. She graduated from the Minerva Art Academy in 2001 with a degree in independent fine art. She lives and works in Groningen and is currently studying on the photography course at the Fotoacademie in Amsterdam.
Wortel works with a variety of materials and techniques. She uses photography as both a means in her process and a medium on its own. All her work centres on the human body; it serves as a material and a starting point. She investigates the points at which the body ceases to be human and becomes form, object or abstraction. Freed from its context, a posture or a physical detail can open up a new world in which judgments about what is beautiful, good or strange become blurred.
Sander Martens (Enschede, 1973) left in 2023 his career as a cognitive neuroscientist to become a photographer and web designer. The search for balance, between order and chaos, holding on and letting go, growth and decay, sits at the heart of his work. His images are graphic and layered, and simultaneously suffused with vulnerability and resilience.
Anita Oosterloo (Harlingen, 1964) graduated from the Fotoacademie in Amsterdam in 2021 with a degree in independent photography. She created still lifes using the objects in the suitcase. The items balance, hang, float, fall, or appear to succumb to gravity. In each photo she used an object that had belonged to her late uncle, an artist. This series is therefore, in part, a personal homage to him.
Wall House #2
Wall House is a true sight to see, with its wealth of shapes, colours, interesting details, symbols and meanings. It is a prime example of the architecture of the 1980s and 1990s, when Groningen played a key role in showcasing international postmodern architecture.
The exuberant private home was designed by architect John Quentin Hejduk (New York 1929–2000 New York). Learn more about the story of the house and its architect.
Until October Wall House is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays and Whit Monday from 12.00 - 5.00 pm.
Wall House #2: room rental in unique location overlooking the Hoornsemeer
Wall House #2 can also be booked throughout the year as a venue for meetings, brainstorming sessions, workshops, presentations or lectures. In the winter months (November - March), you have the entire building at your disposal; during opening hours it depends on the exhibitions. Wall House #2 offers space for meetings for up to 8 people and presentations for up to 30 people.
Cost per half day € 200 (excl. VAT)*
Cost per day € 350 (excl. VAT)*
Wall House #2 also offers additional packages:
&More lunch bag: €18,50 p.p.
&More lunch bag and treat with coffee: €22,50 p.p.
For a tailor-made quote, please contact Gea Schenk (via wallhouse@groningermuseum.nl) or the Bookings Department (boekingen@groningermuseum.nl / +31 (0)50-3666514)
*Prices for business rental of Wall House #2 include coffee/tea for up to 8 people. You are free to use facilities such as a coffee machine, kettle and fridge for self-brought lunch or treats.
About Wall House #2
Design Wall House #2
Wall House was originally designed in 1973 as a vacation home for landscape architect A.E. Bye (Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA). At the time, however, it was not built. The home would only be constructed in 2001 in Groningen, thanks to the Blue Moon architecture festival. Another of Hejduk’s works in Groningen is the city marker along the A7 motorway, entitled The Tower of Cards / The Tower of Letters / The Joker’s Perch, constructed as part of Groningen’s 950th anniversary celebrations in 1990.
The focal point of the design is a 14-metre-high wall stretching 18.5 metres. Hanging from this are various organically shaped spaces and rooms. The entrance, an interior bridge and office are situated on the other side of the wall.
In 2004 a foundation named Stichting Wall House #2 acquired the building, tasked with providing it with a public and cultural function. In the summer of 2005, the house was opened to the public with four types of activities on the programme: artist in residence, opening to the public, various events and knowledge development.
In 2016, the City of Groningen requested the Groninger Museum to manage Wall House, especially to ensure its public use and cultural designation. According to the Groninger Museum, an architectural icon in its own right, Wall House is a promising attraction and excellent venue for experimenting with small-scale design-related exhibitions that can also serve as an instrument for talent development
A biography of John Hejduk, architect of Wall House #2
John Quentin Hejduk (New York 1929–2000 New York) was an avant-garde architect particularly renowned as theoretician. Few of his designs have actually been built, but thanks to his theoretical-didactic work he is counted among the leaders of the New York Five, which also includes Richard Meier and Peter Eisenman, architects who feature in the Groningen Museum Collection as well.
Hejduk was trained at Cooper Union Institute in New York, the University of Cincinnati in Ohio and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He then gained practical experience at various architectural offices, including that of Ieoh Ming Pei. In the 1950s he began his lifelong investigation of the foundations of architectural design, basing himself on the formal principles of art movement De Stijl. He developed many ideas, transforming these into designs which were also inspired by the visual arts and literature. In 1965 he established himself as an independent architect in New York, while also teaching at Cooper Union. Hejduk was instrumental to theory development at Cooper Union, where, like in the Bauhaus movement, architecture was alloyed with other art disciplines. His students included Daniel Libeskind, who has also worked for the City of Groningen.
Hejduk initially designed rigidly geometrical homes. The Wall House series, which is regarded as his masterpiece, was also conceived in this early period. The series revolves around a half-metre thick wall in which the entrance is situated and from which all the other spaces in the home are suspended.
Hejduk’s fame largely rests on his theoretical body of never-constructed designs. His oeuvre of buildings that actually saw light is modest, comprising Demlin House in Locus Calley on Long Island (1960), Hommel Apartment in New York (1969), the restoration of Cooper Union’s Foundation Building in New York (1975), a residential development with studio tower in the Charlottenstrasse in Berlin (1986–1988) and a villa on the Tegeler Hafen in Berlin (1985–1988).
Visit
Directions
Address
A. J. Lutulistraat 17, 9728 WT Groningen
Public transport
By bus:
- take line 19 from the main train and bus station (Hoofdstation) to Hoornse Meer and get off at the Palmelaan stop. From there it is 500 meters and a five-minute walk along the Hoornsemeer lake, with Wall House soon appearing on your right hand side.
- or take line 9 from the main train and bus station (Hoofdstation) to Airport Eelde and get off at Hoornse Plas stop. From there it is 600 meters and a 6 mnutes walk to Wall House, which is indicated by signs.
By car
From the A28 motorway exit at ‘Groningen Zuid’ and then travel along Van Ketwich Verschuurlaan, turning right if coming from the north, left if coming from the south; cross the bridge, follow Laan Corpus Den Hoorn until the traffic lights and turn left there onto Sportlaan; take the second exit at the roundabout onto S.O.J. Palmelaan; follow it curving to the right, turn left at the second street, M.L. Kingstraat, and follow it until you see Wall House in the fourth street on the left, located on the right side at A. J. Lutulistraat 17.
By bicycle
Wall House is easy to reach by bicycle. Hire an OV-fiets at the main train and bus station (Hoofdstation), or see http://fietsen.groningen.nl for other places to rent bicycles in Groningen. View the route from the Groninger Museum to Wall House here.
Opening hours and admission
From April until November Wall House is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 noon to 5 pm. Admission is free.
Accessibility
Wall House is not accessible for wheelchair users and users of mobility scooters. Visitors with reduced mobility should bear in mind that each floor can only be reached by stairs.
You can register via boekingen@groningermuseum.nl or +31 (0) 50 3 666 555.
Customized Receptions
Wall House can be rented for customized receptions until April 2023.
Cost per half the day € 200 (excl. VAT & excl. personnel costs)
Costs per day € 350 (excl. VAT & excl. personnel costs).
For a customized quotation you can contact Gea Schenk, e-mail wallhouse@groningermuseum.nl, or with the Bookings department of the Groninger Museum boekingen@groningermuseum.nl, telephone: +31 (0) 50-3666514.