Landesmuseum Zurich
2002
Location: Zurich
Client: Landesmuseum Zurich
Project Status: Competition
A competition to provide much needed new facilities and accommodation for the Landesmuseum in Zurich. A new major pavilion is proposed at the north east of the exisiting Landesmuseum, designed by Gustav Gull. New construction attempts a kind of rational medievalism, and is used to interpret Gull’s architecture, so that a new and more intense whole can emerge.
The new building contains only public accommodation, major new galleries and reception spaces, which give the museum a new and effective centre of gravity. A gracious and open new entrance leads directly to a major new foyer, a place from which all the levels and facilities of the museum can be reached by stair and by lift. The foyer can be entered from the city, from the park and from the central courtyard. Ascending the generous new stair, one reaches the major new space of the museum, a Hall for the 21st century. The new Hall at first floor level is a counterpoint to the existing Great Hall, and the tension between the two envigorates the space of the courtyard. The interior and north façade of the new Hall have a powerful and formal connection with the park to the north. The new building connects to the existing at the first floor, and this floor is the primary level for circulating around the whole museum.