David Chipperfield Architects Ltd

Museum Of Modern Literature

Museum Of Modern Literature
© Ute Zschamt

MUSEUM OF MODERN LITERATURE

David Chipperfield Architects

PARTNERS
Alexander Schwarz, Harald Müller

SERVICES ENGINEER
Jaeger, Partner Ingenieurgesellschaft Ibb Burrer, Deuring Ingenieurbüro GmbH, Mornhinweg+Partner Ingenieurgesellschaft

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Ingenieurgruppe Bauen

PROJECT ARCHITECT
Martina Betzold

AREA
3800.0 m²

YEAR
2006

LOCATION
Marbach Am Neckar, Germany

CATEGORY
Museum

Text description provided by architect.

The Museum of Modern Literature is located in Marbach, on a rock plateau overlooking the Neckar River valley.

Museum Of Modern Literature
© Ute Zschamt
Museum Of Modern Literature
© Ute Zschamt

As the birthplace of Friedrich Schiller, the town’s park already held the Schiller-National Museum, built in 1903, and the Archive for German Literature, built in the 1970s.

Displaying artefacts from the extensive Twentieth Century collection from the Archive for German Literature, notably the original manuscripts of Franz Kafka’s ‘The Trial’ and Alfred Döblin’s ‘Berlin Alexanderplatz’, the new museum also provides panoramic views across the landscape.

Museum Of Modern Literature
© Ute Zschamt
Museum Of Modern Literature
© Christian Richters

Embedded in the topography, the museum reveals different elevations, reacting to its immediate context.

The steep slope of the site creates an intimate, shaded entrance on the brow of the hill facing the Schiller-National Museum with its forecourt and park, and a grander, more open series of tiered spaces facing the valley below.

Museum Of Modern Literature
© Christian Richters
Museum Of Modern Literature
© Christian Richters

On the highest terrace the building appears as a pavilion, providing the entrance to the museum. Slender concrete supports articulate the façade and enclose the entrance.

The route through the entrance pavilion and down towards the introverted exhibition galleries gradually adjusts from daylight to the arti cial light, necessary for the fragile exhibits displayed.

Museum Of Modern Literature
© Jorg von Bruchhausen
Museum Of Modern Literature
© Christian Richters

These timber-panelled exhibition spaces are connected to naturally lit, glazed loggias, contrasting the internalised world of texts and manuscripts with the valley beyond.

The walls and ceilings are fair-faced, in-situ cast concrete. Limestone is used internally for the oors, and is also used as an aggregate in the pre-cast, sandblasted concrete elements of the façade.

Museum Of Modern Literature
© Ute Zschamt
Museum Of Modern Literature
© Ute Zschamt

The use of enduring, solid materials gives the architecture a strong, physical presence and supports the notion of preserving the collection for future generations.


Museum Of Modern Literature
© Ute Zschamt
Museum Of Modern Literature
© Ute Zschamt


Museum Of Modern Literature
© Jorg von Bruchhausen
Museum Of Modern Literature
© Christian Richters


Museum Of Modern Literature
Floor Plan
Museum Of Modern Literature
Floor Plan
Museum Of Modern Literature
Floor Plan
Museum Of Modern Literature
Site Plan


Museum Of Modern Literature
Elevation
Museum Of Modern Literature
Location

David Chipperfield Architects Ltd
T +44 20 76204800
David Chipperfield Architects Ltd
9 Dallington St, London EC1V 0LN, United Kingdom