Klassik Stiftung Weimar, host of the competition for the New Bauhaus Museum in Weimer, has announced that Berlin-based architect with Professor Benedict Tonon, has been selected as the winning proposal. Last March, ArchDaily announced the shortlist for the New Bauhaus Museum in Weimer design competition. The jury had provided the four finalists with recommendations to improve their proposals in preparation for the VOF Procedure (Contracting Regulations for the Awarding of Professional Services).
Thuringian Minister of Culture and Foundation Board Chairman Christoph Matschie congratulated the winner: “The Bauhaus is now finally being provided with a fitting location at its Weimar cradle. Once again, the Bauhaus will become a symbol of reawakening in the time to come. The building of the museum is providing animportant impulse for the entire development of the city of Weimar.”
Follow us after the break for more on the winning proposal.
Professor Hanada and Professor Tonon’s proposal is a geometric structure that sits at the edge of Weimarhallenpark as a solitary entity. The building’s sharp lines give the Museum a striking presence within the city. The new building connects the historic Weimarhallenpark and nearby Neue Weimarhalle Congress Centre with the Gauforum, dating from 1937 onward, and a residential development from the late 1920s.With the New Museum, the City Museum and the Gauforum Exhibition, the square in front forms a new cultural centre in Weimar.
The New Bauhaus Museum adopts a position between traditional and modern; the building design takes on a new and meaningful presence that is adopted from the transformation of something traditional. Professor Dr. Wolfgang Holler, General Director of the museums said this quality is what gives the museum “the ideal conditions for presenting the wonderfully varied Weimar Bauhaus collection to visitors at the highest level and with maximum flexibility”.
The museum is made from cast concrete. A stone base supports glass blocks that rise “like a monolithic sculpture in space”. The surfaces and edges of the building are translucent, blurring the spatial transitions. This concept is prevalent to the design of the building – blurring the visual dynamics of the space, as it attempts to mirror its precise urban setting with a vague, blurred reflection.
The facade is detailed with window strips that run the entire exterior, creating a visual texture during the day and shimmering quality at night. It is composed of narrow, opaque satined glass horizontal strips that are fixed with metal brackets. They are frameless, so as to create a free floating glass skin. This horizontal rhythm is emphasized by an overlay of fine, etched black lines. The clear rhythm is interrupted irregularly. OLED foil located behind the glass allows the building to glow at night.
The interior walls of the entrance hall have the same materiality and sense that the outer stone plinth of the museum has, creating a continuity between the inside and outside. This creates a fluid transformation from passer-by to visitor to the museum. From the entrance hall, the interior splits off into various important routes between the continuity of the urban setting and the interior rooms.
The building is designed to use less energy through energy reclamation resources. Thermal activation of building units, a geothermal pump, ventilation and solar collectors maintain the climatic conditions of the building while reducing its energy consumption. The building’s compact design also reduce its use of resources. Other features, such as a durable selection of glass, concrete, stone and clay plaster, also ensure sustainability and a longer life of the building.
