Kunstmuseum Moritzburg

limited competition entry- 5th prize

The art museum is currently occupying an ancient castle that is heritage protected and structurally unsuitable to modern curating. At the same time it owns a collection of world-famous art, especially from the Modernist period, including works by Kirchner, Feininger, Klee and El Lissitzki. Only 5 percent of the collection is currently on display.The competition was launched to develop a new extension to be located in the upper levels of the west wing ruin, combined with a reorganisation of the existing spaces.

From an urban strategy of increasing the porosity of the fortress (which until now only has one access over a bridge) 2 additional accesses were produced that encourage transit through the castle to strengthen its incorporation into the fabric of the city.

The castle stands out as a collection of parts, that each incorporate the technological and cultural tools of their respective period. Following that tradition, we developed a structure that sits on top of the existing medieval cross vaults and incorporates their structural scale but becomes fully contemporary in its material organisation (i.e. steel) and beyond: it is parametrically derived and controlled and therefore not a finished product but a dynamic adaptive armature that would change for a wide variety of factors and could be fine-tuned towards the delicate heritage demands of the old castle.