VILLUM Window Collection documents and communicates the history of the window and its significance to the quality of human life through access to light, air and view.

 

Address

Maskinvej 4 

2860 Søborg

Denmark 

 

Opening Hours

Tuesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

It is free to visit the exhibition during opening hours.


Guided tours in the museum

Go to our upcoming guided tours here. 

 

Contact

Dorthe Bech-Nielsen
Museum director


Thea Ringmann Madsen
Architect
+45 29310158
trm@vkr-holding.com 


Alberte Marie Brinckmann
Architect
+45 27202081
amb@vkr-holding.com

 

VILLUM Window Collection was established in 2006 on the initiative of Lars Kann-Rasmussen. The collection is named after his father, civil engineer Villum Kann Rasmussen, who founded the VKR Group in 1941 and developed the first VELUX roof window in 1942.

VILLUM Window Collection houses approximately 300 historical windows that date from the 17th century until today. The exhibition is unique, as it is a comprehensive physical collection of technical, artisanal and historical examples of the development of the window.

It is located in the VKR Group's first headquater at Maskinvej 4 in Søborg, which was inaugurated in 1951. The main building was designed by Danish architect Dan Fink, whereas the workshop areas - the VELKIN halls - behind the building are one of Villum Kann-Rasmussens many inventions. Developed in 1945, the VELKIN hall was the first pre-fabricated modular industrial hall system in Denmark. 

At Maskinvej 4, the workshop areas were used for the manufacturing of VELFAC façade windows, along with other products such as the fittings for VELUX roof windows. The last of the commercial functions moved off of the premises in 2007.

The Timeline

A six-metre long timeline recounts the history and development of windows and glass, from the first apertures in roofs and façades to contemporary, climate-friendly windows. Every stylistic period on the timeline has been assigned a colour. The colours reoccur throughout the entirety of the exhibition so that visitors can date the exhibited windows with ease.

Time tunnel

In the exhibition’s time tunnel, visitors are guided through the history of the window in a spatial sequence that stages the inflow of light through various historical windows; from the first windows - the louvre's of the Iron Age - to large, contemporary, energy efficient windows. The time tunnel offers visitors a tangible and sensuous experience of the window's central role in people's access to light, air and views.

Archive wall

The archive wall gives the visitors a chance to explore more than sixty different windows from different eras. The windows are organised in chronological and stylistic order and colour-coded to correspond to the timeline. They are arranged according to their historical time period.

Themes

The exhibition includes five themed stories about the window. Including: Technology and elements - The window in architecture - Mechanics of the window - The window's materials and Window personalities.

Wall of Windows from The Brooking

"Wall of Windows" is a unique wall of 68 historical windows created by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas on the basis of English architectural historian Charles Brooking's impressive collection of building components. The wall was curated for and first shown at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2014.