The work of art was temporarily installed for two years on the façade of De Witte Dame (MU) in Eindhoven and then placed in storage. The Hermitage was donated by the TU Eindhoven to the Netherlands Architecture Institute and was fully restored. The work’s prominent new location on the border of the city centre and the Museumpark amplifies its expressive power.

The work of art was temporarily installed for two years on the façade of De Witte Dame (MU) in Eindhoven and then placed in storage. The Hermitage was donated by the TU Eindhoven to the Netherlands Architecture Institute and was fully restored. The work’s prominent new location on the border of the city centre and the Museumpark amplifies its expressive power.

This parasite-like steel sculpture – Woods’ only realised project in the public realm – graces the east side of the storage building.
The Hermitage was created in 1999 as a partnership between the TU Eindhoven and the MU Art Foundation. Woods made an abstract 'hermitage', which represents the tension between the individual and the masses. [from: www.showroommama.nl]




The Hermitage - Lebbeus Woods

Lebbeus Woods (1940) is an architect based in New York. He is often associated with the group of avant-garde architects including Coop Himmelb(l)au and Daniel Libeskind. Their deconstructivist architecture has influenced younger generations of architects and designers. Woods is best known for his ominous drawings that have inspired filmmakers, visual artists, musicians and graffiti artists. Woods has lectured, given workshops and exhibited from Sarajevo to Havana. He is Professor of Architecture at The Cooper Union in New York City.

Woods was invited by MU, ACE and the TU Eindhoven (department of architecture) to organise an exhibition of his own work in Eindhoven, to lead a workshop with students of the TU Eindhoven and the Design Academy and to give two lectures. The exhibition comprised a hundred drawings, ten objects he had developed with students in Vienna and the legendary model of the Solo House. During the first discussions in Eindhoven a plan was hatched to build one of his installations on the façade of De Witte Dame, which eventually resulted in The Hermitage. The Hermitage is a temporary art work that will be installed at De Witte Dame for six to nine months. This is the first time that such an object by Lebbeus Woods has been realised at full scale.