Robert Stadler: K+

Art and life, tradition and innovation merge in the K+ Café im KWM, conceived by the Austrian designer Robert Stadler. The K+ is a museum café and restaurant, a design exhibition to touch and feel, and a multifunctional venue for coffee, communication, conferences, cinema, and much more: a lively place of encounter and exchange for everyone.

Within the framework of the Collection Satellite series, Robert Stadler has taken a new look at both the history and identity of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld and the city’s textile tradition. In close cooperation with artisans and partner companies, many of them from Krefeld, a coffee house interior was created that flexibly adapts to various situations and occasions. “This project carries the founding spirit of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum into the 21st century,” emphasizes Director Katia Baudin. “The museum was founded in 1897 in the context of the reform movement and was, from the very beginning, a key catalyst for encouraging productive collaborations between art, craft, and industry—a vision that continued with the German Werkbund. Stadler’s design translates these ideas into a contemporary Gesamtkunstwerk.” Baudin initiated and curated the project, in collaboration with Juliane Duft.

Playing with form, function, and decor, Stadler reinvents the museum café as a modular space in which art and design connect. For the K+ Café im KWM, he drew inspiration from the three sites and the collection of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld (Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Haus Lange Haus Esters by Mies van der Rohe). The design expands the space visually and mentally and is based on a fascinating mix of craft and digital processes. It combines natural and artificial materials, design icons by Konstantin Grcic and Achille Castiglioni, as well as objects and furniture designed specifically for the site. On the paravents, a marble pattern—a reference to the museum’s original interior from 1897—faces a concrete surface, reminiscent of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s radical modern architecture. At second glance, both surface decors turn out to be trompe-l’oeil—deceptively realistic looking digital prints on soft, sound-absorbing fabric.

Three colored zones structure the space: A yellow curtain shields a video lounge, while at the opposite end of the space a bar bathed in red forms a communicative fixed point. With the blue and green modular furniture in between, a variety of spatial arrangements become possible. The coffers of the historic ceiling are covered with mirrors which expand the space by reflecting the activity below. In the lush, tree-filled courtyard, a large wooden platform invites visitors to linger and also serves as a stage.

The K+ Café im KWM is a site-specific installation that combines aesthetic with functional and social aspects. It is destined to become the social hub of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, combining culinary and artistic experiences. Public programs and events such as lectures, concerts, and films are planned. Collaborative formats on the intersection between food design and art education will punctuate the museum’s program.

Robert Stadler (b. 1966 in Vienna, lives and works in Paris) graduated in design from the IED in Milan and the ENSCI in Paris. With his studio, Stadler has worked for clients such as Thonet and Vitra. He designed cafés for the Costes brothers in Paris and exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the MUDAM in Luxembourg. Recent important solo exhibitions took place at the Noguchi Museum in New York and at Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau in Dresden.

Since 2018 the Collection Satellite series invites artists from different disciplines to engage in an innovative dialogue with the museum’s collections, its history, and the architecture of its three buildings—the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Haus Lange and Haus Esters by Mies van der Rohe.

For more information and a talk between Robert Stadler and Katia Baudin please visit our website.

The Kunstmuseen Krefeld thank the sponsors and partners for their support: domovari, Kesper Druckwalzen GmbH, Verseidag, Brunner, stglicht, green | Gartenkultur and many more.

The Kunstmuseen Krefeld are a cultural institution of the City of Krefeld.