New museum
December 5, 2009
Three years ago, Essen's renowned Museum Folkwang was bursting at the seams, so the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach Foundation offered funding for a new museum. A competition began, and the UK's David Chipperfield won the bid.
While the museum's collection won't be moved into the building until January, Chipperfield has already unveiled his design for the museum's new building.
It will be a space of simple grace - no formal twists and turns, no "wow"-effects, which the architect dislikes anyway.
Up, up, and away
Instead, the design is pure lightness of being, full of flowing transitions between three simple box-like structures. The structures' shimmering, bright green color gives the design a friendly feel and the large glass surfaces of the facade allow in copious amount of light.
Green courtyards link the three structures to one another, as well as to the Museum Folkwang building dating from the 1950s.
There is another museum building built in the 1980s, but it was never well liked by the public.
"There was such a dislike of the 80s building, the 50s building had generated a certain amount of affection," David Chipperfield said.
So the 80s-era museum was done away with while the building from the 50s was integrated into his design.
"It's very direct, it's absolutely simple, it's quite transparent," he went on. "You can see from the outside inside and from inside you see outside, so it seemed to us that there was a certain DNA in the building that could be borrowed."
Views all around
The glass facades allow for views on all sides - a charming villa in one direction, an ugly apartment building from the 60s in another.
Despite the structure's simplicity, it still has something labyrinthine about it. Whether or not visitors will be able to find their way around easily will reveal itself in January, when the museum's permanent collection moves in.
That collection includes graphic art, photography, paintings and sculptures by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, and a host of other world-famous artists.
Author: Beatrix Novy (als)
Editor: Kyle James