State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten
24/07/2019.
[Krems] Austria
metalocus, RAMIRO PÉREZ TOLEDO
metalocus, RAMIRO PÉREZ TOLEDO
In 2015, the design by Marte.Marte Architekten for the Gallery of Lower Austria in Krems was selected among 59 submissions in an EU-wide competition. Following a three-year construction period—the groundbreaking ceremony took place in 2016—the museum was opened to the public in May 2019.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo Photography
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo Photography
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Lachlan Blair.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Lachlan Blair.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Judith Fegerl.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Roland Horn
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Lachlan Blair.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Lachlan Blair.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Lachlan Blair.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Lachlan Blair.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Lachlan Blair.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph courtesy of Landesgalerie Niederoesterreich
Site plan. State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten.
Plans. State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten.
Section. State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten.
Section. State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten.
State Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten. Photograph by Faruk Pinjo.
Standing out among more traditional buildings, the Gallery of Lower Austria by Marte.Marte Architekten dominates the Krems Kunstmeile (Museum Mile) with its contemporary architecture, making it a new landmark in the city.
Its twisted, curvy profile is complemented by a zinc shingle cladding which shimmers under the sun like scales on a fish, accentuating its unusual exterior. Wide glazed arches flood the building with light and invite passers-by to look inside and enter.
Five floors, including an underground one connected to the neighbouring Kunsthalle Krems, allow for multiple exhibition spaces to host various events at once. The terrace at the top provides views of the city, the Kunstmeile and the Danube RIver.
Its twisted, curvy profile is complemented by a zinc shingle cladding which shimmers under the sun like scales on a fish, accentuating its unusual exterior. Wide glazed arches flood the building with light and invite passers-by to look inside and enter.
Five floors, including an underground one connected to the neighbouring Kunsthalle Krems, allow for multiple exhibition spaces to host various events at once. The terrace at the top provides views of the city, the Kunstmeile and the Danube RIver.
Description of project by Marina Hämmerle. Marte.Marte Architekten
Possible Reality
It takes a lot to create a building of this kind. The materialization of the new State Gallery of Lower Austria in Krems/Stein an der Donau is based on the daring vision of the single-minded architects, a determined political will, the coordinated collaboration of museum experts, craftsmen, and companies, and a dash of revolt for good measure.
Undaunted in spirit
Krems – concentrated atmosphere on the broad Danube River, surrounded by gentle vineyards, criss-crossed by narrow lanes and attractive squares, and nourished by the soundscape of the Minorite church and the museums of the art mile (Kunstmeile), resounding to the ethnographic music of the Glatt & Verkehrt Festival, the cacophony of the tourists’ voices, and the avant-garde Danube Festival, and alternating tastes between Federspiel dry white wine and juicy apricots…
Not far from the shipping centre, just two roundabouts away, another characteristic feature of the town is arising: the new State Gallery of Lower Austria – an astounding tour de force of architecture. If new possibilities are nothing other than realities waiting to be discovered, then marte.marte has definitely found them in a bold and daring way with their new state art museum. It requires an undaunted spirit and a great deal of courage to conceive, let alone plan, such a structure as the culmination of the art mile.
Caught in the crosshairs
Vis-à-vis from the austere Kunsthalle, designed by Adolf Krischanitz and built in the former tobacco factory of the Austrian tobacco monopoly, and next to the mimic Caricature Museum by Gustav Peichl with its playful saw-tooth roof, the solitary building by marte.marte makes an unmistakable artistic statement and joins forces with its location in a striking way.
The structure, more of a sculpture than a building, eludes the appreciation of the viewer in their movement around the construction, alters its expression and shape from step to step, and resists being drawn to scale, opting instead to be a concrete manifestation of the interplay of forces. One is tempted to view the novel form as being unique – the torsion around the axis of the northwest corner of the building generates a multitude of hyperparabolic surfaces and the connecting lines of the two unequal squares of the ground and roof floors create spectacularly contorted surfaces which are difficult for the human eye to comprehend.
The building, or better yet the sculpture, twists around its vertical axis, tapers towards the top, and thanks to a carved-out incision in the roof, provides a clear view in the direction of the Danube of the Göttweig Benedictine monastery which towers over the foothills of the Dunkelsteinwald Region. Apart from the four glazed arches on the ground floor, it is this gesture which connects the interior of the building directly with the genius loci, thus allowing one of the most important landmarks of the Wachau Region to achieve its full effect, seeing as the historical monastery is caught directly between the crosshairs of the viewers.
Otherwise, the malleable construction seems hermetic from the outside. The scale armour covering the building, composed of matte zinc rhombuses which must practically be attached piece by piece from top to bottom, transforms the “four-legged” concrete giant into an armadillo in knight’s armour.
A vision in concrete
There it is once again, the irrefutable fortified nature of marte.marte’s structures, which seem designed to defend the individual’s or society’s set of values with a gestural, enclosed construction. What sets this building apart from other projects of the Vorarlberg firm, however, is its underlying dynamic energy. Their vision of the art museum in Krems is like a holographic image of a geometric shell turning boldly around itself.
What on the one side appears to be an aligned surface is on the other an overhanging steep face. Depending on the angle, the surfaces seem to twist – the motion captured in the still image is brought to life again by the motion of the viewer. A sense of possibility leads to a sense of reality.
In the belly of the giant
The interior of the building is also full of surprises. The two concrete towers that make their way through the floors and form the vertical constant of the building are a point of reference, an aid to orientation, and Escher-like stairs in one. Two fire escape staircases join to form one DNA helix, which lead and confuse viewers at one and the same time. In conjunction with the powerful contortions of the exterior walls, every floor has its own unique layout.
It seems as if the exhibition halls move from northeast to southwest. Everything is still under construction: the rough surfaces inside are being filled and sanded, and room-forming walls are being erected on the ground floor. Many features have yet to be revealed, and I’m excited to see how art will conquer these interior spaces and what the look and feel will ultimately be of what currently feels huge and unrestrained, as if I were walking in the belly of some gigantic creature...
More information
Architects
Marte.Marte Architekten
Client
Office of the Provincial Government of Lower Austria.
Cost
€35 million. Budget per year.- €3.5 million. Visitors expected.- 70.000 per year.
Area
Exhibition space.- 3.000 m²
Dates
Construction start.- June 4th, 2016 (groundbreaking). Completion of the building.- December 2018. Grand Opening.- May 25th and 26th, 2019.
Photographer
Location
Kunstmeile Krems Betriebs GmbH. Museumsplatz 5. 3500 Krems an der Donau. Austria
MARTE.MARTE ARCHITECTS. BERNHARD MARTE Y STEFAN MARTE
Bernhard Marte 1966 Born in Dornbirn, Austria. 1980 – 1985 Rankweil Technical College, mentored by Erich Steinmayr. 1985 – 1992 Studied Architecture at the University of Innsbruck, Design training under Rainer Köberl, Completed his studies under Othmar Barth. As of 2005 Advisory Council for Design, Rankweil. Member of the Board of the Vorarlberg Central Association of Architects.
Stefan Marte 1967 born in Dornbirn, Austria. 1982 – 1987 Rankweil Technical College, mentored by Erich Steinmayr. 1987 – 1995 Studied Architecture at the University of Innsbruck, Design training under Rainer Köberl. 1999 – 2005 Member of the Board of the Vorarlberg Central Association of Architects. 2004 Member of the Board of vai, Vorarlberg Architecture Institute. As of 2005 President of vai.
They grew up in Weiler and at construction sites. Marte.Marte opened their joint architecture office in their childhood home in Weiler in 1993. They have contributed to a number of publications and exhibitions such as "emerging architecture 01" and sat on various European competition juries. They have also won a number of awards such as the Austrian State Award for Industrial and Commercial Architecture.
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