Staab Architekten has released its plans for the historic center of Cologne, which will include the research and administration buildings for the Römanisch-Germanisches Museum, the Kurienhaus der Hohen Domkirche (curia house of the high cathedral), and the Kölner Stadtmuseum (Cologne state museum). Through these buildings, the project will redefine the urban space around Cologne’s cathedral and generate a place where the city’s history can be “presented and explored from diverse perspectives.”
A new museum forecourt will be created between the main entrances of the buildings, tying the existing Römisch Germanisch Museum to the rest of the new buildings.
A shared lower foyer at Kurt-Hackenberg-Platz will connect the museums’ main foyers and provide access to the Roman excavations located under the base of the cathedral.
The Stadtmuseum is organized around a courtyard that will house Cologne's city model, and is, with the exception of two building cores, column-free in order to enable a flexible design of exhibitions. Double- height spaces with large panorama windows in the building's corners permit the display of special exhi- bits in direct relation to the cathedral and the city - described the architect in a recent press release.
All of the new buildings will be arranged so that important sight lines to Cologne’s cathedral and the inner city are preserved.
Learn more about the project here.
News via Staab Architekten.