The Donum Estate, the award-winning Pinot Noir producer featuring a monumental sculpture collection located in the acclaimed wine region of Sonoma County, has commissioned award-winning Danish architect and designer David Thulstrup to transform Donum Home. Construction will commence immediately and is due to complete in April 2021.
Thulstrup’s design concept will draw on the outstanding natural Californian landscapes and his Scandinavian heritage, to reconfigure Donum Home into a warm and welcoming space for wine tasting, dining and entertaining. The concept revolves around simple and calm architectural interventions, with intentionally paired-back design decisions which allows the art collection and wine tasting to speak for itself. The overall design language draws from Scandinavian values such as simplicity, functionalism, and sense of calmness, while giving a nod to the Californian vernacular through natural materiality, using American walnut and Californian granite.
Three tasting rooms will be added to make a total of five to take advantage of the south facing building towards rolling hills of southern Sonoma rested beneath the waters of San Pablo Bay. In addition to the transformation, a range of custom furniture pieces will enable coherence between objects and space, fostering a sense of holism from the inside-out.
The 200-acre Estate is home to over 40 major works from artists from across the globe, including Ai Weiwei, Yayoi Kusama, Louise Bourgeois, Keith Haring, Zhan Wang, Elmgreen & Dragset, Yue Minjun, Jaume Plensa, Subodh Gupta, Danh Vo, Doug Aitken and Tracey Emin, among others.
This new commission marks the continued commitment of Donum’s philosophy of bringing together fine wine, art, sustainable farming, design and architecture. It was further augmented last year with Doug Aitken’s Sonic Mountain (Sonoma), situated within Donum’s lush eucalyptus grove and the accompanying musical composition created by multimedia artist Hisham Akira Bharoocha and Subodh Gupta’s People Tree, a striking 10-meter high stainless-steel banyan tree with utensils as leaves, following its unital display at La Monnaie de Paris.
“It is delightful to work with David on this project. His Danish heritage underpins his design approach and it perfectly weaves into what we want to achieve at Donum – a holistic experience at the intersection of fine wine, sustainable farming, art, design and architecture. The Scandinavian design principles of simplicity marries the beautiful Sonoma landscapes, creating a sensational surrounding where one can enjoy our wines, collection and experience high-quality architectural design; while all at the same time feeling like they are at home,” said Mei and Allan Warburg, Owners of The Donum Estate.
“The Donum Estate captures a rare trifecta: beautiful landscapes, art, and wine. It is perfect foundation for my work, that puts materiality, holism, and functionality in focus. To bring these existing elements to life, all architectural interventions encourage simplicity and lightness through the application of an honest design language. That way, the space takes on a calm and understated character, while putting the wine tasting experience in focus. After all, the crossover between hospitality and creating a sense of home is what I am passionate about,” commented David Thulstrup.
“For the past two decades, our passionate Donum team has been committed to our mission of producing the finest Pinot Noir in California. During this time we’ve witnessed a natural progression as The Donum Estate has brought to life this delicate balance among wine, land and art that has made it an international destination. For guests to come walk the land, drink the wine and see our art collection – the experience we offer is a cultural pilgrimage. As there is heightened demand in visitation from new and diverse audiences, this transformation will respond to that demand and enhance what we can offer even more so than today,” added Angelica de Vere Mabray, Donum Chief Executive Officer.
With its familiarity and sense of home, Donum Home, holds part of the Donum Collection. During construction, artworks including Yue Minjun (China, 1962), Liu Xiaodong (China, 1963) and Tracey Emin (British, 1963) will be temporarily placed in storage. In the New Year, Donum will welcome a number of new works and commissions into the collection and existing art works will be rehung at the Donum Home to complete its transformation.