EXTERNAL DECORUM
MUSEÉÉ UNTERLINDEN
SIMULATION IN MATERIALITY Like the earlier Shaudepot project, The Ackerhof and La Maison buildings as well as the enclosing courtyard wall are of irregular, hand-broken bricks by Gima,29 entering a dialogue with the convent facades of quarrystone and plaster, that were redone many times over the centuries creating a pastiche affect. The blank wall on the other side, connecting to the Piscine also uses the copper slate creating a threshold from the old and new. Like Colmar town, the new courtyard is paved in sandstone, as is Unterlinden Square. At the heart of the courtyard, an apple grove— the “Pomarium”—arises from a platform made of stone and brick.30 Jacques Herzog states, ‘We were looking for an urban configuration and architectural language that would fit into the old town and yet, upon closer inspection, appear contemporary.’31
Fig. 59. Varied periods of stonework
Fig. 60. 13th century Chapelle Tower
Fig. 63. Museum Unterlinden dominant material finish Fig. 61. Sensitive materials between the old
Fig. 62. Copper facade between Piscine, Ackerhof
Terracotta tile Masonry Terracotta tile White render Copper Hand cut brick White render
The practice demonstrates that instead of blocking the evolution of new forms, typologies can be employed to generate them.32 As Aldo Rossi states, ‘type is thus a constant and manifests itself with a character of necessity; but even though it is predetermined, it reacts dialectically with technique, function, and style, as well as with both the collective character and the individual moment of the architectural artefact.’33 Where the practice simply adds to the old convent by adding stonework and timber doors to the old architecture, the practice uses a different strategy in the new, simulating the traditional lancet window, in a unique way, experimenting with a minimal form which transforms inside into a rectangular inset into the wall. 29 Architectural Record, Musée Unterlinden, Medieval Makeover: With a few carefully considered interventions, Herzog & de Meuron expands a storied museum, 2016, <https://www.architecturalrecord. com/articles/11643-musee-unterlinden> (accessed 18.12.19) 30 ibid. 31 ibid. 32 Herzog & de Meuron, Natural History, Baden, Lars Muller, 2002, p.346. 33 Rossi, A, The Architecture of the City, London, MIT Press, 1982, p.41.
Key:
Fig. 68. Hand broken Gima bricks used for facades, wall and street
Fig. 64. 13th century convent building and courtyard
Fig. 65. Sketch, 13th century cloister lancet window
Fig. 69. Wall mock up
Fig. 70. Interpreted lancet window mock up
Fig. 66. New entrance to museum, to cloisters
Fig. 67. Lancet window, stone of varied periods
Fig. 71. Exit courtyard
Fig. 72. La maison threshold between canal
DH JAMES CLARK
HERZOG & DE MEURON MUSEÉ UNTERLINDEN
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