Brückner & Brückner Architekten: Living memory | New town archive in Oberviechtach - best architects 23

Brückner & Brückner Architekten

Living memory | New town archive in Oberviechtach

best architects 23

public buildings

Place

Oberviechtach, Germany

Photos

Marie Luisa Jünger

Description

The town archive in Oberviechtach is the memory of the town, a living memory, because the aim is not only to carefully preserve the archived materials but also to communicate their content to the townspeople. Between the market square and the market pond, the new town archive together with the Doctor Eisenbart and City Museum form a new cultural building block. A prominent gap in the heart of the city has been repaired. Inspiration for the building came from the wooden barns that are omnipresent on the Oberviechtach townscape. Like an archive, these timber structures serve as storerooms – in this case for goods or natural produce. The new barn is a contemporary and highly efficient archive building with the best technical prerequisites for the future-proof storage of archival materials, in order to preserve the historical and cultural memory of the city. The archive is a monolithic sculpture cast from lightweight concrete in wooden formwork made of boards of different widths, based on local barn architecture. After removing this mould, the texture of the wood remained visible in the cast stone. Inside, the walls have a smooth finish, accompanied by the warm tones of local wood. Large glass openings bring plenty of daylight into the public spaces. These include a bright multifunctional room on the top floor that can be used as a reading room, seminar room or event space – always with a framed view over the town pond.