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New Bauhaus Museum Weimar
New Bauhaus Museum Weimar
Weimar, Germany
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Other Projects by Studio Becher
New Bauhaus Museum Weimar
Weimar, Germany
New Bauhaus Museum, Weimar, Germany
International competition, 2011
When in 1919 Walter Gropius became director of the newly formed Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar – a merger of an arts and crafts school and a school of art – he couldn't have known that only six years later he would have to move it to Dessau to escape increasing pressure from local craft-workshops that perceived the new school as a threat to its industrial design interests; the city of Weimar, famous in the late 18th and early 19th century for its intellectual and cultural life, had lost the avant-garde institution to an industrial town. In Dessau, the school found a new home in the iconic modernistic building designed by Gropius himself, established a Department of Architecture in 1927 and became acclaimed for its functionalist approach to architecture and industrial design.
This shift in the Bauhaus history from craft to industrial design is seen as a central question of this competition: how should the New Bauhaus Museum be represented and positioned for 21st century Weimar? Should it imitate the white modernist language developed in Dessau, or should it rather recall its arts and craft origins under Henry van de Velde? Both would be looking backwards in time therefore a different route was taken: the marriage of functionality and context.
The distinctive building is composed of parallel building bars with pitched roofs. Their dimension of 12m width and 13m height is derived from the context. Following the irregular outline of the triangular plot of land results in different widths and orientations of the gables and disrupts the repetitive order of the building. In size, the new museum mediates between the late 19th century domestic quarters to the north and west, and the large buildings of the former Gauforum to the east.
The main exhibition space, windowless for functional reasons, is located on the upper floor, adjoining the museum shop and café which offers grand views over the park. Smaller exhibition spaces for the rug and print collections and the art storage are on the ground floor.
For ease of access and fire escape the lecture hall, cinema and public workshops are on the ground floor. The workshops face the nearby park with large windows enabling views in and out of the space. All administrative spaces are lined up opposite the former Gauforum, now Landesversicherungsanstalt.
High flexibility was a major criterion for the design of the main exhibition space. The open plan space comprises of eight differently sized 'inversed houses' defined by free-standing gable ends. These gables support the pitched roof and contain domestic services such as ventilation and power supply.
The eight 'inversed houses' correspond with the outer image of the New Bauhaus Museum: an accumulation of small houses. Inside, the pitched roof spaces form an appropriate environment for the domestic objects of the Weimar collection, comprising of furniture, lamps, rugs, pictures and toys.
The exhibition spaces can be subdivided with fabric-covered panels along the eaves to allow for temporary exhibitions with smaller spaces. The height of the main exhibition space ranges from 3 to 6.5 metres. Skylights are proposed on both sides of the internal gables to allow for naturally lit temporary exhibitions and smoke ventilation. For daylight sensitive exhibits, the skylights are fitted with black-out blinds and luminaires for the simulation of daylight.
The volume of the functionally organised museum is kept as compact as possible with a gross to net floor area ratio of just 1.29. Omitting a basement, the main plant room is strategically situated on the upper floor which keeps servicing costs as low as possible and allows for a future extension of the museum to the north.
Combining in-situ and prefabricated concrete construction the building follows an oblong grid of 1.2 x 12 metres in plan. Longitudinal walls on the ground floor and internal gable walls spanning across on the first floor support the pitched roof. All other partition walls can be moved so that the museum can easily be adapted to future changes in plan.
It is suggested to use the space reserved for a future extension as a temporary museum garden. It offers space for a 1,500 square metre extension. The museum kindergarten is proposed on a separate site north-west of the museum.
With the New Bauhaus Museum the city of Weimar has a unique opportunity to realise Gropius' idea of a 'Great Structure' (Großer Bau), a building in which all applied arts are reunited in a 'unified work of art' (Einheitskunstwerk) similar to a medieval cathedral. It is proposed to design bespoke furniture, show cases and lighting fixtures, as well as tableware and cutlery with Weimar based craftspeople and designers.
International competition, 2011
When in 1919 Walter Gropius became director of the newly formed Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar – a merger of an arts and crafts school and a school of art – he couldn't have known that only six years later he would have to move it to Dessau to escape increasing pressure from local craft-workshops that perceived the new school as a threat to its industrial design interests; the city of Weimar, famous in the late 18th and early 19th century for its intellectual and cultural life, had lost the avant-garde institution to an industrial town. In Dessau, the school found a new home in the iconic modernistic building designed by Gropius himself, established a Department of Architecture in 1927 and became acclaimed for its functionalist approach to architecture and industrial design.
This shift in the Bauhaus history from craft to industrial design is seen as a central question of this competition: how should the New Bauhaus Museum be represented and positioned for 21st century Weimar? Should it imitate the white modernist language developed in Dessau, or should it rather recall its arts and craft origins under Henry van de Velde? Both would be looking backwards in time therefore a different route was taken: the marriage of functionality and context.
The distinctive building is composed of parallel building bars with pitched roofs. Their dimension of 12m width and 13m height is derived from the context. Following the irregular outline of the triangular plot of land results in different widths and orientations of the gables and disrupts the repetitive order of the building. In size, the new museum mediates between the late 19th century domestic quarters to the north and west, and the large buildings of the former Gauforum to the east.
The main exhibition space, windowless for functional reasons, is located on the upper floor, adjoining the museum shop and café which offers grand views over the park. Smaller exhibition spaces for the rug and print collections and the art storage are on the ground floor.
For ease of access and fire escape the lecture hall, cinema and public workshops are on the ground floor. The workshops face the nearby park with large windows enabling views in and out of the space. All administrative spaces are lined up opposite the former Gauforum, now Landesversicherungsanstalt.
High flexibility was a major criterion for the design of the main exhibition space. The open plan space comprises of eight differently sized 'inversed houses' defined by free-standing gable ends. These gables support the pitched roof and contain domestic services such as ventilation and power supply.
The eight 'inversed houses' correspond with the outer image of the New Bauhaus Museum: an accumulation of small houses. Inside, the pitched roof spaces form an appropriate environment for the domestic objects of the Weimar collection, comprising of furniture, lamps, rugs, pictures and toys.
The exhibition spaces can be subdivided with fabric-covered panels along the eaves to allow for temporary exhibitions with smaller spaces. The height of the main exhibition space ranges from 3 to 6.5 metres. Skylights are proposed on both sides of the internal gables to allow for naturally lit temporary exhibitions and smoke ventilation. For daylight sensitive exhibits, the skylights are fitted with black-out blinds and luminaires for the simulation of daylight.
The volume of the functionally organised museum is kept as compact as possible with a gross to net floor area ratio of just 1.29. Omitting a basement, the main plant room is strategically situated on the upper floor which keeps servicing costs as low as possible and allows for a future extension of the museum to the north.
Combining in-situ and prefabricated concrete construction the building follows an oblong grid of 1.2 x 12 metres in plan. Longitudinal walls on the ground floor and internal gable walls spanning across on the first floor support the pitched roof. All other partition walls can be moved so that the museum can easily be adapted to future changes in plan.
It is suggested to use the space reserved for a future extension as a temporary museum garden. It offers space for a 1,500 square metre extension. The museum kindergarten is proposed on a separate site north-west of the museum.
With the New Bauhaus Museum the city of Weimar has a unique opportunity to realise Gropius' idea of a 'Great Structure' (Großer Bau), a building in which all applied arts are reunited in a 'unified work of art' (Einheitskunstwerk) similar to a medieval cathedral. It is proposed to design bespoke furniture, show cases and lighting fixtures, as well as tableware and cutlery with Weimar based craftspeople and designers.
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