'Summer Design Diaries' is an exclusive collection of personal entries written by designers for Design Days Dubai. They share some of their personal encounters with design or architecture. In 2016, Sabine Marcelis was one of the highlights presented by Victor Hunt DesignArt Dealer at Design Days Dubai.

Bruder Klaus Chapel by Peter Zumthor

"In the summer of 2015, I went on a road trip together with my boyfriend starting in Rotterdam, driving through Germany and Switzerland to Italy, and back up to Holland again through France and Belgium.

We threw a mattress in the back of the van and set off for 6 days, visiting 13 museums plus several significant architectural sites on our journey. Being an architect and a designer we wanted to see as many interesting cultural sites as possible and the trip included visits to Peter Zumthor's Vals Therme and Bruder Klaus Chapel, Le Corbusier's Notre Dame du Haut, Villa Panza Varese and its impressive collection of Dan Flavin site-specific installations and the then newly-opened Fondazione Prada in Milan.

Le Corbusier's Notre Dame du Haut

One of the most memorable parts of this trip for me was definitely the Museum Insel Hombroich in Nuess, Germany. It was founded by the art collector Karl-Heinrich Müller in 1987 on a disused NATO missile base. The Museum combines architecture, art and nature over 62 acres of meadowland consisting of eleven pavilions, designed by the sculptor Erwin Heerich. Without any signposts, visitors are encouraged to explore the meadowland freely and wonder from one "chapel in the landscape" to the next.

Museum Insel Hombroich

The pavilions are the most beautiful form studies based on Heerich's elemental sculptures and translated into spaces which house the collection of artworks. There is such a feeling of calm when walking through the park and seeing all the beautiful artwork and architecture.

One of my favourite museums in the Netherlands, where I am based, is the Kröller-Müller museum which is also an open air sculpture park, but on a smaller scale. It offers a moment of peace with nature and form away from city life which is truly inspiring. Museum Insel Hombroich takes that feeling to another level.

We were lucky enough that during our Summer visit there was an extensive exhibition of over 40 works of Olafur Eliasson from the Boros Collection in the Langen Foundation building; also located on the grounds of the Museum Insel Hombroich and designed by Japanese Architect Tadao Ando. Light installations and sculptures filled the rooms of the building offering a fantastic overview of his works."

With kind regards from Sabine Marcelis.

Langen Foundation

Summer Design Series' runs until the end of August 2016.