reflections on surfacing
| archaeological visitors centre
[the royal danish academy of fine arts - school of architecture]
On the island of Bornholm a unique settlement dating back to 7500 BC is being dug out. The Museum of Bornholm is asking for a proposal for an on-site department of the museum at the excavation site. The new museum is to include documentation facilities for the archeologists to work on-site with the finds and a display room for the visitors.
The museum is placed in a gravel pit in the perifery of the excavation site, on one hand discrete in relation to the perception of the settlement, on the other hand central as a working place for the archeologists. Placed in the perifery the museum acts as a main portal to the excavation. Leading to the site is a path along the slope of the ridge upon which the settlement is. This path is marked by two curved steel walls cutting its way through the landscape, ending at a curve of wooden beams that once marked the edge of the settlement.
The museum is, in material, a continuation of the steel walls. It is basically shaped as one big steel plate, twisting around, acting as both a ceiling and a wall, and containing both the exhibition and the documentation facilities. The walls of the gravel pit itself, though now in concrete, are included as part of the building.
Conceptually, it resembles a nearly closed Möbius strip, referring to the ‘below ground’ being in direct contact with/identical to the ‘above ground’. The visitor is slowly ascending from ‘below ground’ through the exhibition to the ‘above ground’ at the entrance to the excavation site. Concept, visual perception, and movement are all implied in this simple twisted space.
Opposite – and in visual contact with – the museum is the documentation center for the archeologists. The constant activity in this documentation center adds to the authenticity of a visit to the excavation site, the visitor witnessing the unearthing and restoration of 5.000-10.000 year old objects.
Statically, the roof is based on the mathematical principle of a hyperbolic paraboloid, allowing for the necessary double curvature, but still only using straight steel beams. This basic skeleton is covered with galvanized steel trapeze plates, absorbing this complex surface as evenly as possible.
The museum is placed in a gravel pit in the perifery of the excavation site, on one hand discrete in relation to the perception of the settlement, on the other hand central as a working place for the archeologists. Placed in the perifery the museum acts as a main portal to the excavation. Leading to the site is a path along the slope of the ridge upon which the settlement is. This path is marked by two curved steel walls cutting its way through the landscape, ending at a curve of wooden beams that once marked the edge of the settlement.
The museum is, in material, a continuation of the steel walls. It is basically shaped as one big steel plate, twisting around, acting as both a ceiling and a wall, and containing both the exhibition and the documentation facilities. The walls of the gravel pit itself, though now in concrete, are included as part of the building.
Conceptually, it resembles a nearly closed Möbius strip, referring to the ‘below ground’ being in direct contact with/identical to the ‘above ground’. The visitor is slowly ascending from ‘below ground’ through the exhibition to the ‘above ground’ at the entrance to the excavation site. Concept, visual perception, and movement are all implied in this simple twisted space.
Opposite – and in visual contact with – the museum is the documentation center for the archeologists. The constant activity in this documentation center adds to the authenticity of a visit to the excavation site, the visitor witnessing the unearthing and restoration of 5.000-10.000 year old objects.
Statically, the roof is based on the mathematical principle of a hyperbolic paraboloid, allowing for the necessary double curvature, but still only using straight steel beams. This basic skeleton is covered with galvanized steel trapeze plates, absorbing this complex surface as evenly as possible.