Description

The Stuttgart architects LRO Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei won the invited competition for the new museum extension in 2008. Arno Lederer, who had previously chaired the jury for the competition for the neighbouring cathedral and Römer site, has been a member of the design advisory board for the old town of Frankfurt since 2009. The design by LRO was the only entry among the prize-winners to divide the large mass of the museum into two buildings, with a wedge-shaped square between them. The separate, long section on Saalgasse has been given twin pitched roofs, lowering the overall building height. Its gables also make reference to the jagged line of the neighbouring post-modern residential buildings. This outlying exhibition building sidles up relatively close to the Nikolaikirche, forming a clear edge to the Römerberg and its slight rotation gives the open space a funnel-like quality, drawing in visitors.

The entrance building, which connects to the separate wing via the pedestal level below, stands parallel to the historical ensemble of the museum with its five buildings that since 1878 have recounted 800 years of the city’s history. The discovery of the foundations of a harbour wall from the Staufer period during excavation resulted in an open deep courtyard, which one can gaze into from the fully-glazed rear wall of the entrance foyer.

The large building has been inserted into the ground plan of the city with exceptional skill, as if the architects had meticulously determined every single view between the existing buildings and the resulting perspectives.

The fact that the structure of the modern architecture fits so well into the old town without attempting to feign a small-scale townscape, can be attributed to its repertoire of details and its solid materiality. Both parts of the extension stand on a raised basalt pedestal topped by a chunky cornice. The typical local red sandstone of the outer walls creates the impression of masonry, the deep horizontal courses and inconspicuous vertical joints giving the walls and pillars the sense of a wrapped skin that also conceals openings, such as the fire escape doors, within it. The main entrance doors and windows are made of oak, the larger of which are faced with cover profiles of architectural bronze. The entrance door also has an elaborately crafted handle that fits pleasingly in the hand when entering. The treatment of the extensive outdoor surfaces is entirely new. While the exhibition building reveals its function through the row of windows beneath the eaves, with wall niches framing selected spolia, the sandstone facade of the entrance building has been worked to produce a decorative diagonal pattern.

What distinguishes LRO’s museum building above all is the wit and friendly, ironic way in which it deals with everyday necessities, which one encounters again and again throughout the building. How, for example, can a stairwell be illuminated without inserting a large undesirable opening into the elevation and dazzling the visitors within? The architects’ answer was to punch multiple small openings in the wall, pushing forward the massive sandstone of the façade like half-open window shutters that wave at passers-by, arousing curiosity.

In the interior, the architecture becomes calmer in deference to the exhibits. The entrance building provides access to the old and new buildings, and smooth oak surfaces for counters and shelves set the tone for the rest of the visit, which continues on the left in the sculptural staircase to the new exhibition building. The museum’s offices lie three floors above the foyer and comprise both individual offices with a view of the inner courtyard and an open workspace with staggered desks facing the new courtyard. Linoleum floor surfacing in red, blue and yellow denote the different levels.

The three levels for temporary and permanent exhibitions are designed as large, column-free spaces. The ceilings are therefore structured by a densely-spaced series of concrete beams with embedded anchor rails. In the centre of the space, the oak staircase emerges out of the floor and extends up to the inverted pitch of the ceiling like a piece of furniture carefully fitted into the room. At either end, an oriel window bursts through the end wall, emerging as a glass display case that on the west side overlooks the River Main and the Römer.

With their museum extension, LRO have achieved a convincing piece of urban repair that avoids the compromise of trying to please everyone. Instead, the extension succeeds in taming the contradictory influences of its surroundings and translates them into contemporary architecture. It pays its respect with jovial irreverence to convention, without denying the present.

Originally published in Bauwelt 16.2017, pp. 22-29, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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