Em2N Architekten Berlin GmbH

Cinématheque Suisse

CINÉMATHEQUE SUISSE

EM2N

Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei

ARCHITECTS
EM2

CLIENT
Bundesamt für Bauten und Logistik BBL

COMPLETION
2014

PARTNERS
Mathias Müller, Daniel Niggli

PROJECT LEADERS
Marc Holle, Bettina Baumberger, Jean-Baptiste Joye

PROJECT TEAM
Pascal Deschenaux, Yann Dubied, Marita Gelze de Montiel, Phillippe Jorisch, Robert Kuijper, Andrea Landell, Yoshihiro Nagamine, Noémi Necker, Tanja Schmid, Michael Zürcher

PHOTOGRAPHS
Roger Frei

AREA
13 m²

CONSTRUCTION
2007–2010

YEAR
2010

LOCATION
Penthaz, Switzerland

CATEGORY
Cinema, Refurbishment

Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei

Paradoxically, the charm of the existing Cinémathèque lay in its simple and utilitarian appearance. The home of the national collective film memory presented itself as an unpretentious accumulation of sheds, concerned more about the contents than the packaging.

The extension project accepts this starting point and makes it its own. The structure of the existing buildings arranged in a linear fashion is translated by new additions and remodeling into a composite, ambivalent form of parallel buildings of different lengths.

Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei
Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei

Just the end situation is marked by angled cuts; the building in this way acquires a face.In the interior the principle of buildings positioned alongside each other is also evident.

The three main circulation systems lying above each other penetrate the parallel cross-walls vertically, allowing the sequential arrangement of the beams to be experienced. The suspended conference rooms in the two-story entrance and exhibition hall are in turn connected with each other by windows.

Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei
Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei

In the views across and through the building this produces a perspective depth as well as suggesting associations to film effects such as montage and cutting. While the public areas and all work places are concentrated in Penthaz I, the archive itself is conceived as a purely underground storage area on the far side of the road.

In this way the functional and atmospheric side effects are restricted to an absolute minimum. Penthaz II is a kind of super-functional bunker that ensures the optimum protection of the culturally valuable artifacts.

Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei
Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei

In a simple manner a kind of urban disposition is achieved that, on the one hand, reacts to the expansiveness of the adjoining agricultural landscape and on the other gives the institution Cinémathèque Suisse a clear and emphatic address.

The new shell of rusted steel, an industrial material that emanates a sensual quality, encases the entire complex and connects the new and the existing parts. The gradual weathering of the natural material refers to the archive’s function in preserving film and gives the complex its own differentiated identity.

Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei
Cinématheque Suisse
© Roger Frei

The modulated, condensed roofscape composed of gently sloping, planted roofs takes up the theme of industrial production facilities or film studios.


Cinématheque Suisse
Site Plan
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Elevation
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Elevation

Em2N Architekten Berlin GmbH
T +49 30 585834630 F +49 30 585834632
Em2N Architekten Berlin GmbH
Brunnenstraße 9, 10119 Berlin, Germany