Hasta La Ideas

Gerrman architects Kada Wittfeld Architektur have completed this metal-bodied museum in Glauburg, Germany, that cantilevers out towards a historic Celtic burial mound.

A large panoramic window to the end of this cantilever creates a viewpoint for visitors, facing the archeological site.

Visitors can also access the roof, where an additional viewing platform is located.

Internally a broad flight of steps leads from the entrance to the exhibition rooms.

Photography is by Werner Huthmacher.

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The following is from the architects:

Brief- A museum for Celtic art, in direct proximity to a historic burial mound.

Similar to an excavated archaeological find, the metal body of the museum juts out from the landscape and forms a counterpart to the burial mound. More of a mysterious object itself rather than architecture, the museum should be stumbled upon by its visitors as a marker of landscape discovery.

Celtic Museum Glauburg | Germany

Because of its strategic position and sweeping view, the plateau at the edge of Wetterau was a favourite settlement area from the 5th millennium BC until the High Middle Ages.

The remains of the settlements can still be seen in the park and make the Glauberg – with the help of the myths and legends about the inhabitants of the Glauberg – a very special place, not only for researchers.

In the 1930s, excavations were already being conducted, but had to be suspended with the turmoil of the war. But what the archaeologists discovered from the geomagnetic aerial photos and brought to light between 1994 and 2000 was beyond their wildest dreams.

The sensational discovery of the Celtic princely tombs with substantial, fully preserved burial objects, the cult area and its settlement makes it one of the most important Celtic archaeological and research sites in Europe today.

The cult surrounding the ca. 20 ha large archaeological area with the reconstructed burial mound and sections of the processional routes is immediately noticeable. The gentle topography stretches impressively up to the horizon.

Out of respect for the distinctive location, the architecture avoids great gestures and withdraws in favour of the historically formed landscape. The Celtic museum merges into the spacious landscape as a clearly contoured and distinct structure.

Half concealed in the slope, it is oriented to the Celtic mound, thus consciously allowing it to be the principal player, whose central function as a landscape element is supported by the museum as a “perception intensifier”.

The protected space under the mighty overhang serves as the start and end point of the tour on the archaeological trail and for the exploration of the museum.

A broad flight of steps in the building welcomes visitors and guides them gradually to the exhibition.

The closed volume provides an exhibition situation that does justice to the light-sensitive exhibits and allows visitors to completely immerse themselves in the Celtic world.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is the large panorama window, which offers an impressive view of the burial mound, thus incorporating it into the exhibition itself. The roof as a viewing platform offers a panoramic view of the landscape and reveals the sky.

The Celtic Museum is a clearly contoured and distinct volume, blending in with the surrounding landscape. Partly inserted into the slope, it projects itself towards the burial mound. Its vital function as an element of the landscape, the museum building amplifies the burial mound’s leading role.

Underneath the main volume, one finds the foyer and the café and adjoining rooms as well. Here begins and ends the exploration of the museum’s archaeological trail. A staircase-ramp guides the visitor into the exhibition.

In the end, one finds a panoramic window, offering an impressive view of the burial mound, incorporating it into the exhibition itself. The roof acts also as an observation deck onto the scenic landscape and the skies above – so that the surroundings can be “discovered.”

Project Details
Typology: museum
Construction volume: gfa 2.190 m² cubature 9.500 m³
Architect: kadawittfeldarchitektur
Client: Federal State of Hessen represented by HMWK and HBM
Realization: 2008-2011
Competition: 1st prize 2006
Project manager: Oliver Venghaus (architecture), Ben Beckers (exhibition design)
Awards: Auszeichnung vorbildlicher Bauten in Hessen 2011

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Kindergarten by Kada Wittfeld Architektur	Museum by Manuelle Gautrand	China Wood Sculpture Museum by MAD

This small art gallery in Japan by Tokyo architects Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP has a softly curved exterior shape, sliced at one end to create a wide entranceway.

The asphalt-clad exterior of Roku Museum matches the colour of surrounding trees and the curved chimneys are intended to mirror their branches.

On the interior the curved walls showcase paintings collected by the owner’s late father.

A cafe is situated at the far end of the building, with intentionally low ceilings that force visitors to sit down.

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Here are some more details from the architects:

Roku Museum Concept:

“Bringing Nature, Buildings and People Closer Together”

There is a small private art museum in the city of Oyama in Tochigi prefecture. The owner wanted to build a room to showcase paintings that were collected by his late father, Roku Tsukada, and a cafe where people can drop in anytime that has the ambiance of a salon. There is a lack of greenery in the area, and the site is on a road with a lot of traffic.

Therefore, we decided to plant a grove of trees to create a tranquil environment in the city that was suitable for the appreciation of paintings. We planted three rows of six trees each in a pattern that is close to being grid shaped so as to allow sunlight to equally reach each tree, and ensure the area above the site will be fully covered in the future.

In much the same manner as trees in the garden combined with the architecture of traditional private homes in Japan in the past to create a pleasant environment inside the home, evergreen trees were planted on the north side of the site to block the cold north wind in the winter, and deciduous trees were planted on the south side to block out the sunshine in the summer and let the sun shine through in the winter. Different types of trees were used depending upon the location on the site, and the building was designed to match the layout of the trees and intermingle with them.

The gallery room is inserted between two rows of trees at the rear portion of the site, and rather than partition the cafe with a door, it is offset and has a higher floor to provide a subtle distinction between the two. Three dimensional measurements of the lower branches on the trees that were to be planted were made and computer processed to allow the shape of the building to be fine tuned so that it would not interfere with the tree branches, trunks or roots, and enable swaying of the branches in strong winds to be taken into consideration.

Buildings can be considered the overlapping of layers between the inside and the outside, but for this building, the trees consist of a thick membrane that represent another layer on top of the inner wall, insulation, water-proofing material and outer wall. The trees control the sunshine and wind according to the season, control moisture and cooling with the transpiration effect and absorb carbon dioxide and polluting gases. In addition, this layer emits oxygen and fragrances called phytoncides, and softly envelop the building and the people inside.

A desire to directly reflect the shapes of the trees inside resulted in soft curves in the ceiling and walls. Visitors feel the presence of the trees while inside the museum, and it is an entirely different space from a white cube that eliminates all elements other than the paintings.

In particular, the ceiling in the entrance is low with an average height of 1.7 meters due to the fact that branches and leaves are close to the roof in this area. This makes it necessary for people to bend over and discard their social status and pretense and return to their real self. This provides them with a unique opportunity to appreciate the paintings in a different manner. The ceiling in a portion of the coffee shop is so low that you cannot stand. A bench zone was created in this area where visitors are surrounded by the walls and ceiling, and it provides an experience that is similar to sitting down against a tree and taking a rest. In addition, there are window sills that can also be used as a bench or desk, or as a space to put books.

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This building uses the techniques that we have continuously since the “House SH” to foster a close relationship between people and buildings. Our hope is to create a special type of communication between nature, people and the building by tailoring the shape of the building to the trees surrounding the structure, and using a design that makes people feel at ease and want to snuggle up against the building.

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“Building Form Snuggles Up Against Trees”

Wood columns and beams were used since they can be easily worked to match the complicated shapes of the walls and ceiling, and structural plywood was applied to create a monocoque structure. FG board (strengthened with inorganic fibers) was used on the inside to follow the many curves, and it was finished with an elastic coating material.

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Specially ordered asphalt shingles that likewise follow the curves and still have a good appearance when there are leaves on them were applied to the outside. The trees were planted according to the plan formulated when the building was designed after all other work was completed. The sun that filters through the trees creates a phenomenal façade that changes from one moment to the next.

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Project name: Roku-mueum
Credit: Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP
Site area: 705.13m2
Building area: 106.91m2
Total floor area: 99.95m2
Structure: Wooden structure
Height of the building: 6.50m
Number of stories: 1
Design period: December 2009
Construction period: October 2010
Materials used for interior and exterior
:
Outer wall, roof: Asphalt single
Interior floor: Mortar finish with a steel trowel, and then resin flooring 
paint  /clear
Inside wall and ceiling: Elastic plastered wall materials finish with a 
trowel

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Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune	Galeria Adriana Varejão by Rodrigo Cerviño Lopez	Tanada Piece Gallery by Geneto

All other universities take note, particularly of the Ivy League variety: Yale is getting it done and making things happen. Last year you might recall, we reported on their School of Architecture getting ultra-serious about their archives, with dean Robert A.M. Stern leading the charge in making sure their current collection is in good shape, actively encouraging alumni and famous architects alike to donate their materials, and generally instilling archival importance over the last decade, after years of unfortunate neglect. Now Yale has announced that they intend to make the entirety their museum and library collections available online. Most impressive, they’re doing this with no license required for access and no limitations on the use of these images and scans. Thus far, more than 250,000 images have been uploaded to their new collection catalog, with more on the way. There are millions of pieces spread across the school (12 million alone at the Peabody Museum of Natural History), so this week’s launch is but a scratch at the surface. For helping you decide how you want to kill the rest of your day, here’s a bit about what’s currently available:

The Yale treasures that are now accessible under the new policy are as wide-ranging as the collections themselves and include such diverse items as a small limestone stela with hieroglyphic inscription from the Peabody Museum of Natural History, a Mozart sonata in the composer’s own hand from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, a 15th-century Javanese gold kris handle from the Indo-Pacific collection of Yale University Art Gallery and a watercolor by William Blake from the collection of prints and drawings in the Yale Center for British Art.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

With the Whitney Museum of American Art slated to break ground on its new Renzo Piano-designed building in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District on May 24, the fate of its uptown flagship is newly sealed. The Brutalist icon, designed by Marcel Breuer and completed in 1966, will be used by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for exhibitions and educational programming, the museums announced yesterday. An agreement approved by the boards of trustees of the Met and of the Whitney provides for an eight-year “collaboration” beginning in 2015, when the Whitney opens its downtown facility.

The Met plans to focus its programming in the Breuer building on modern and contemporary art. “This will be an initiative that involves curators across the museum, stressing historical connections between objects and looking at our holdings with a fresh eye and new perspective,” said Thomas P. Campbell, director of the Met, in a statement issued yesterday by the museum. “This project does not mean that we are taking modern and contemporary art out of the Met’s main building, but it does open up the possibility of having space to exhibit these collections in the event that we decide to rebuild the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing where they are currently shown.” The announcement also notes that the Whitney and the Met will seek to collaborate on collections sharing, publications, and other educational activities. Meanwhile, like any savvy Manhattan property owner, the Whitney will keep some space in its former home for storage, as well as for site-specific works of art that will remain there on a permanent basis.

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We’ve known that New York’s American Folk Art Museum has been struggling financially since last summer, when it was reported that the museum was “unable to make upcoming payments on a $32 million bond it borrowed from the City’s Trust for Capital Resources.” At the time, they said the troubles stemmed from opening an expensive new building in the same decade as when the bottom fell out of the economy, which led to plummeting attendance numbers and fewer endowments (an issue that has plagued the whole industry now for years). Adding to the uncertainty, it was announced last week that the museum’s director, Maria Ann Conelli, would be stepping down as of July to return to academia. Though they’ll still have to hunt for her replacement, the financial issues now seem solved. In a release by the museum earlier this week, they’ve announced that the Museum of Modern Art has agreed to buy the American Folk Art Museum’s building. After the sale is complete, they will be moving to a smaller space in Lincoln Square. However, given that their future home is “only 5,000 square feet, one-sixth the size of the building it is selling,” it’s likely a given that a portion of its current staff will be laid off (this also helps possibly explain Conelli’s exit). As for how this will affect the financial weight they’ve been carrying, the NY Times reports, “Neither museum would say what MoMA was paying for the building, but the folk art museum’s president, Laura Parsons, said it was enough to retire the museum’s debt.” It’s expected that the MoMA will use the new space, and the vacant lot that separates the two, for future expansion plans. For a bit of history on the Folk Museum’s troubles, and how this deal came to pass, we recommend reading ArtInfo‘s great report.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.