"The notion that our work is an integral part of what we achieve takes us to the very limits our musings about the value of a work of art."
Peter Zumthor
The Kolumba
Museum in Cologne, Germany, is a remarkable work of Swiss architect Peter
Zumthor, a Pritzker Prize laureate. In a display of mastery and sensitivity, the architect manages to
fuse the ruins of a destroyed Catholic church, with modern, sober and minimalist architecture, and highly sensitive to the theme of the works it houses: religious art.
OVERVIEW
Church of St.
Columba before the bombing
The church after
the Allied bombing. Note the curved corner of the Manufactum Warenhaus also
recognizable in other aerial views.
This icon,
called "the Madonna of the Ruins" was considered by many a symbol of hope during
the painful and difficult years of the post-war reconstruction.
Photo courtesy of Thomas
/ Archikey
In fact, an octagonal chapel, designed by
Gottfried Böhm in 1950, was built to honour the image. A precious historical value was added
to the symbolic importance of the place, when in 1973 Roman ,
Gothic and medieval
ruins were discovered under the old church.
For this reason, the Kolumba art society, which keeps a large collection of Christian art (ranging from a portrait of the Emperor Tiberius' daughter from the first century, to the present) commissioned in 1997 a contest in order to revalorate the church and also to provide a space for displaying their collection in an area of 1.600 m2.
THE PROPOSAL
Peter Zumthor won the competition with an ambitious and humble idea at the same time: the building completely surrounds the ruins of the church and in fact merges with them while using the upper level and a side wing to house the exhibit areas.
First, second and third floor
Externally, the building
is characterized by its massiveness, a simple and severe composition of
warm-colored volumes and thus integrates both to its urban context as well as the historic site where is
located.
However, despite this massiveness, the building is surrounded by garden areas that allow the space to permeate within the urban fabric.
The texture of thin gray brick, handmade by Tegl Petersen of Denmark, frams the remains of the old chapel achieving a remarkable integration between new and old.
Part of the success in
this fusion lies in the simplicity of form, color and material that embed these Gothic-style fragments.
Detail of the back stairs. Photo courtesy of Dorena
.
Photo courtesy of teraform
It is however in the interior of the building where Zumthor's work can be better appreciated. The architect has wrapped both the
octagonal chapel as well as the Roman ruins with a double height nave supported by thin metal
columns. This monumental space is dramatically lit up since indirect light filters through the lattice in the walls. This effect
reminds me of that used by Luis Barragan in the Chapel of the Capuchinas in Mexico.
Photo courtesy of Jose
Fernando Vasquez
The visitor is able to walk throughout the chapel
by means of a winding passage which lies over the ruins. This is a resource is used in
some archaeological sites in order to allow visitors to experience the sites from up close, but
reducing the impact on heritage (as, for example in the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul, Turkey ).
Photo courtesy
Jose
Fernando Vasquez
Photo courtesy
Jose
Fernando Vasquez
Besides the chapel, the building includes 16 exhibition rooms arranged on three levels, including the area on top of the church. In these areas, works of ancient and contemporary religious art works are displayed, including some books of sacred art.
The exhibition area of these galleries is dotted
with large windows from where the architect frames some superb views of the surrounding
cityscape, also reflected in the polished white floor of these
rooms.
The building
also opens its views to some courts designed in a serene Zen minimalism, which houses works
by famous sculptors like Richard Serra and Joseph Wolf.
Photo courtesy of Jose
Fernando Vasquez
In sum, both by the use of form, material and light, the architect of manages to imbue the museum with a sense of serenity and meditation that, while it is
perfectly suitable to house the collection of Catholic art, it transcends the boundaries of a specific religion to imbue the visitor with an atmosphere of spirituality away from the worldly bustle of the city.
""The architectural drawings trying to express the aura of the building in place as closely as possible. But the very effort of this representation often serves to underline the absence of the object itself, and what emerges is the type of deficiency culaquier representation, curiously about the reality that promises, and perhaps, if the promise has the power to move-a longing for his presence. "
Peter Zumthor
- ART MUSEUMS
- Hoki Museum, Chiba, Japan. Tomohiko Yamanashi (2008-10)
- Miho Museum, Shiga, Japan. I. M. Pei (1997)
- Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan. Le Corbusier (1959)
- National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan. Kisho Kurokawa (2000-06)
- Suntory Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan. Kengo Kuma (2004-07)
- Watari-Um Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. Mario Botta (1985-90)
Claudio Happy
Birthday Claudio! It was a pleasure to
visit the Kolumba together.
