“One of the big reasons for the fact that we are so interested in this website is adaptive reuse,” says Cary. “We really focus on these existing two buildings and improve them.” The Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron (responsible for the De Young Museum) will reinterpret the campus as a public space.
This is the key: Although the Birkenstock campus is an important symbol of North Bay, only those who have to do in official textbook or shoe store had. “We want buses to only be lined up in the parking lot outside – or even better, they take an intelligent train or a different means of transport,” says Cary.
The Eames Institute has been remarkably active since its public announcement in 2022. His first surgical basis was a family ranch in Petaluma, which once had Lucia Eames, the daughter of Charles, at home. This property is subjected to a multi -year renovation.
The institute bought William Stout Architectural Books from its founder and namesake in 2022 and protected the beloved art and design book store on the Jackson Square in San Francisco. Last month, the institute bought Lars Müller Publishers based in Zurich.
In 2024, the operations shifted to Richmond, where the collection is now housed and is open to small travel groups. The Eames Institute takes care of over 40,000 objects that came directly from the Eameses and their office in Venice, California, including furniture prototypes, Ephemera, tools and personal objects. While the congress library keeps a large amount of 2D material from the Eameses, says Cary: “The family has held many of its most important things back -what they call the family jewels -that we could ultimately acquire.”
Online and personal shows from the collection are usually accompanied by a publication. The last decade of the furniture design by Ray and Charles Eames (1968–1978)A playfully arranged exhibition of chairs, lying testers and objects can currently be seen on the base of the Tranamerica pyramid.
Ultimately, the Novato Museum not only shows the Eames Archives, but also other prominent design artifacts. Cary emphasizes that they are and become a collective institution. “We have a lot of work ahead of us,” he says. “We have not yet defined exactly what that is or what it will be, but that will be part of the next few years if we develop this project.”