Dercon is elusive about his plans. “Wait and see,” he said. But here are some possible clues. His favorite artists? Both Americans: Richard Tuttle and David Hammons. Favorite buildings? Herzog & de Meuron’s Schaulager in Basel, Switzerland; Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston; and UNStudio’s Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Favorite museums? New York’s MoMA, the Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Kunsthalle in Basel, and the Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
“But for me, museums don’t necessarily have to be museums,” he added. “One of my favorite cultural institutions is the Cinémathèque in Tangier. Another is the National Institute of Design in Ahmadabad, India. Incredible! A museum, a school, a library, a marketplace, and an archive. To plan a new museum, we need to look at them and at science labs, factories, and archives. We need to be daring and courageous and to take risks—really interesting risks.”
