MoMA’s Garden Café
Dutch Design Heritage
MoMA’s Garden Café was redesigned in 1995 to coincide with the opening of the exhibition ‘The Piet Mondrian Retrospective’.
Dutch design agency OPERA was commissioned to head the project, show-casing work by contemporary Dutch interior, industrial and graphic designers. OPERA’s plan included a redesign of the restaurant’s entrance and circulation, the layout of tables and chairs, and lighting. OPERA also designed the 66 red lacquer café tables in the central area (originally designed for café De Unie in Rotterdam) and the vitrines for the display of Dutch graphic design.
OPERA invited several young designers to collaborate in the design. They included: Piet Hein Eek: chairs, Tejo Remy: milk bottle lamps, Rodie Graumans: 85 lamp, Henk Stallinga: blister lamp, Matthijs van Cruijssen, Joep van Lieshout: bussing stations.