{"id":10023206,"date":"2026-02-04T11:35:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T10:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/calder-gardens\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T12:37:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:37:55","slug":"architecture-art-calder-gardens-in-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/architecture-art-calder-gardens-in-philadelphia\/","title":{"rendered":"Calder Gardens Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a permanently designed art and landscape space<\/a> in Philadelphia, \u00bbCalder Gardens\u00ab<\/a> is dedicated to the work of American sculptor<\/a> Alexander Calder (1898\u20141976) and presents a rotating installation of works from his approximately 50-year oeuvre. Initiated by the Calder Foundation in collaboration with the Barnes Foundation and realized by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron<\/a> and landscape designer Piet Oudolf<\/a>, a spatially composed experience was created, where sculpture, architecture, and landscape meet on equal terms.<\/p>\n

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Architecture by Herzog & de Meuron<\/p>\n

The architecture of \u00bbCalder Gardens\u00ab was designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, known for its context-sensitive cultural buildings. The renowned architectural practice keeps the design restrained, framing the art in a calm, carefully structured setting. Partially embedded in the ground, the structure develops along the property in horizontal sequences.<\/p>\n

\"Calder
Calder Gardens, 2025. Photograph by Iwan Baan. Artwork by Alexander Calder \u00a9 2025 Calder Foundation, New York \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The architecture remains deliberately low and opens up to the landscape, rather than separating itself from it. In response to the kinetic and static quality of Calder’s sculptures, a sequence of spatial situations<\/a> emerges, characterized by differently proportioned rooms, varying ceiling heights, and strategically placed daylight openings. Materials and surfaces are subtly chosen, directing focus to the form, movement, and scale of the sometimes larger-than-life sculptures.<\/p>\n

Landscape Design by Piet Oudolf<\/p>\n

Piet Oudolf, one of the most influential landscape designers of our time, was entrusted with the design of the landscape for \u00bbCalder Gardens\u00ab. His concept is based on a multi-layered planting of perennials, grasses, and woody plants, used as compositional elements that change with the rhythm of the seasons. Movement\u2014one of the central principles of Alexander Calder’s mobiles\u2014is created here by wind, light, growth, and change.<\/p>\n

\"calder<\/p>\n

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Oudolf’s overall overview of the planting concept for the \u00abCalder Gardens\u00bb site, with color coding for plant selection as a reference; the drawing shows various planting concepts for the different areas of the landscape and their connection to each other.<\/p>\n

\"calder<\/p>\n

Like Calder’s sculptures, which remain in a constant, never identical state due to air movement, gravity, and balance, the landscape is also designed as a dynamic system. More than 250 plant species form a living structure in which processes of becoming, passing, and renewal become visible. Calder’s statement \u00bbThe universe is real, but you can\u2019t see it. You have to imagine it.\u00ab can be read in this context as a unifying idea: perception is active and only unfolds in the interplay of space, time, and imagination.<\/p>\n

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\"portrait
Photograph by Herbert Matter \u00a9 Calder Foundation, New York. Artwork by Alexander Calder \u00a9 2025 Calder Foundation, New York \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Calder in his Roxbury studio, 1941.<\/p>\n

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In the garden spaces, designed as open structures, the sculptures do not appear as isolated objects, but as integral components of a changing environment. Wind, light, and vegetation continuously influence their perception and echo Calder’s interest in movement and change; Oudolf expands the environment with his intervention\u2014as in a successful collaboration\u2014to an additional dimension.<\/p>\n

\"Calder
Calder Gardens, 2025. Photograph by Iwan Baan. Artwork by Alexander Calder \u00a9 2025 Calder Foundation, New York \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A Quiet System<\/p>\n

\u00bbCalder Gardens\u00ab largely foregoes explanatory texts or traditional mediation formats<\/a>, focusing instead on direct experience. The project positions itself neither as a sculpture park nor as an exhibition house, but as a coherent ensemble of space, design, landscape, and art, where Calder’s work is rethought both spatially and conceptually. In doing so, \u00bbCalder Gardens\u00ab sets a new standard for dealing with modern sculpture in public and semi-public spaces. Architecture and landscape do not compete with the art, but form an environment specifically tailored to the work\u2014a place where design has a structural impact and allows art to speak in its own way. [Ed.]<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a permanently designed art and landscape space in Philadelphia, \u00bbCalder Gardens\u00ab is dedicated to the work of American sculptor Alexander Calder (1898\u20141976) and presents a rotating installation of works from his approximately 50-year oeuvre. Initiated by the Calder Foundation in collaboration with the Barnes Foundation and realized by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron and landscape designer Piet Oudolf, a spatially composed experience was created, where sculpture, architecture, and landscape meet on equal terms.   Architecture by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10023175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335,534,348],"tags":[338,358],"class_list":["post-10023206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-art","category-latest","tag-architektur-en","tag-kunst-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10023206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10023206"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10023206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10023217,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10023206\/revisions\/10023217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10023175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10023206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10023206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10023206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}