Bang & Olufsen Museum in Struer
Struer Museum
From miniature plans to full-scale development
The new Bang & Olufsen Museum at Struer, Denmark
The year 2003 saw the continuation of an exciting project launched the previous year, to design and construct a museum dedicated to the technological skills of the company's workers and its audio-video products which have now been in production in the town for over three-quarters of a century.
The new Bang & Olufsen Museum will be constructed in the centre of the town of Struer - a town synonymous with the company's history - on Søndergade, at the side of the town's existing museum.
Pictured - A glimpse into the proposed Bang & Olufsen Museum in Struer, where Jørgen Michaelsen already has placed the first 'visitors'. The models here depict the company's products throughout the years. Note the photograph on the rear 'wall' showing employees on the steps of the old building at Quistrup
" B&O Museum ready in miniature. Negotiations about Bang-Foundation's gift to Struer municipality begin today, Tuesday.
When plans of the gift were revealed in April they were in the form of architect Freddy Nielsen's drawings, but since then, the former B&O employee, architect Jørgen Michaelsen Venø, has created a miniature of the Project adding to it the latest expansion schemes. It turned out to be necessary to get more room for the museum's workshops; expanding the lowest levels by a couple of hundred square metres has solved the problem.
The museum will be underground, only a metre of the top level and the glass roof will be visible on the lawn between the Struer Museum and Buchholtz's house in Søndergade. The museum will be on three levels with underground connections to existing museum buildings.
The project will cost an estimated 10 million DDK, but the Board of the Kirsten and Peter Bang Foundation is willing to pay. The Board consists of Kirsten and Peter Bang's four children, Jens, Lotte, Peter and Dorte, and they gathered on Friday to approve the expansion of the project. It is now up to the Struer municipality to play its part of the project in these times of savings. It will have to buy half of the property at Søndergade 21. The house must be demolished to make room for the museum, but the municipality already owns the other half of the property.
The municipality will also have to pay for the part of the museum that will be placed under the northern wing of Struer Museum, where the connection to the B&O Museum will be. In addition to this they will also pay for the necessary facilities in the museum and its daily operation.
There is no doubt that a B&O museum of this standard will generate profit by virtue of increased tourism - it is not everyday that the municipality is offered a gift worth 10 million DDK, thereby recouping the municipality's original outlay.
Architect Jørgen Michaelsen was a former leader of Bang & Olufsen's Shop Design department. Before retirement he was involved in exhibition model-making. This talent has been utilised more recently for the proposed Bang & Olufsen Museum in Struer. Shown here, Michaelson presents the result of his efforts to Lars Peter Bang, who manages the Museum Project on behalf of the Bang-foundation.
Created: 10th January 2007
Modified: 20th February 2007
Author Notes:
Article reproduced with kind permission from the Struer newspaper: 'UgeAvisen' 24 - 30 June 2002. The article was written by Hugo Hviid and translated by Rikke Fjordbak Ravn. The photograph at the top of the page was kindly submitted by Palle Lykke Ravn.
