3018 Wedding hall Utrecht, 1999

City government of Utrecht

 

The brief for the small wedding hall in the new city hall of Utrecht was to use historical pieces from Central Museum's collection in the interior design. In the interior design, these museum pieces were complemented with household survivors from the city's archive: the local pawn shop. These 'remnants' take the museum pieces out of their isolation, while the museum pieces in turn show the beauty of these 'remnants'. Marriage is quite intimate business, even if it's for economic reasons, it can be awkward when the town hall official adorns this moment with personal details based on one single conversation. This is one of the reasons that we chose to hang painted portraits to fill the room. The portraits' faces are on the same scale as anyone's face in the room, showing unknown people who quietly attend the wedding. Their presence provides even the smallest wedding with guests without crossing any personal boundaries.