Museography, Conservation, Internal Materiality, Form

Fig. 59. Varied periods of stonework

Fig. 60. 13th century Chapelle Tower 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. 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

Fig. 61. Sensitive materials between the old Fig. 62. Copper facade between Piscine, Ackerhof

contemporary.’31

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. Fig. 63. Museum Unterlinden dominant material finish

Fig. 68. Hand broken Gima bricks used for facades, wall and street Key:

Terracotta tile Masonry Terracotta tile White render Copper Hand cut brick White render

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

Chapelle

Fig. 74. Cloisters with lancet windows Fig. 75. Matthias Grunewald’s Isenheim altarpiece

Fig. 76. Gallery space showing 15th Century art Fig. 77. Sensitively considered doorways Cloitre

Gallerie

Fig. 73. Internal spaces diagram

Visitors walk down a new, cast concrete spiral staircase leading to the underground gallery that connects the convent with the new building. The renovation works were carried out in close collaboration with the architects of the French national heritage department, notably Richard Duplat and the museum curated by Jean-François Chevrier and Élia Pijollet.37 Collaboration is a key part of the success of the project, like Ruskin the practice would precept that the worth of architecture proceeds partly from the quality of labour expended upon it and the value of craftsmanship.38 Moved to the centre of Unterlinden Square, facing the canal, the entrance to the expanded Museum leads to the convent, whose facade has been delicately renovated and new flooring replaced with Topcer tiling and Singer Parquets.34 Museological components from the recent past were removed and the spaces restored to an earlier state. The church’s roof has been renovated, with a new timber floor installed in the nave where Grunewald’s Isenheim altarpiece stands in the focal point, ‘the hallucinatory masterpiece of agony and exaltation that is one of the greatest works of Germanic renaissance art’.35 The ceiling around the courtyard of the cloisters is very interesting because in the medieval times, the timber had been reused which had been found from different buildings, creating an amazing piece of architecture previously hidden behind the ceiling. Formerly blocked windows have been

Fig. 78. Protective glazing over window lintels Fig. 79. Curved timber doorways inset into wall Fig. 82. Arched plaster corridors Fig. 83. Sculptural staircases, minimal furnishings

Fig. 80. Rediscovered timber ceilings, topcer tiling Fig. 81. Minimal furnishings and handles

reopened, looking out on the cloister and the city.36

Fig. 84. Black ceiling finish, careful lighting

34 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) 35 The Guardian, 2016, <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/may/15/herzog-de-meuroninterview-tate-modern-switch-house-extension> (accessed 02.01.19) 36 Jacques Herzog ‘hardly finished work’ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgPQlrfJYYo&t=3473s> 37 ibid. 38 Saint, A, The Image of the Architect, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1983, p.64. Fig. 85. Glazed elements, careful lighting showing the Mosaïque de Bergheim