Cukrowicz Nachbaur Architekten

Description

The setting is shaped by the location of the site at the intersection between the open lakefront and the compact fabric of the city. Just outside the self-contained urban development is an island-like plot of land occupied by solitary buildings with mixed use. In between them are beautiful vistas from the town onto Lake Constance. The reconceptualisation of the museum evolved structurally from the local conditions: as a new solitary building it forms the western end of the important ensemble of tower blocks. The concept is based on the principle of extending the existing building fabric. Two storeys have been added on top of the existing building and, directly adjacent to it, a new five-story structure facing Kornmarktplatz. The old building, added storeys and new building together create a new and coherent form. The different sections of the building are distinguished by differentiated façade structures and surface textures. A uniform colour scheme conjoins all parts of the building into a harmonious whole. The façade of the new building features a relief surface across which the play of light and shadow changes with the fall of sunlight and the seasons. The relief is a quasi-chaotic structure made up of concrete casts of PET bottle bases (16,656 concrete »flowers«). Artefacts and pieces from the rich collection of the regional museum inspired the design.