Kolumba Museum / Peter Zumthor

Aug 2010

By Karen Cilento — Filed under: Featured ,Museums and Libraries , Cologne, Germany, Kolumba Museum, Peter Zumthor

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Special thanks to our reader Jose Fernando Vazquez from Urbana Arquitectura (view his work previously featured on AD) who has shared these images of Zumthor’s amazing Kolumba Museum with us. Situated in Cologne, Germany, a city that was almost completely destroyed in World War II, the museum houses the Roman Catholic Archdiocese’s collection of art which spans more than a thousand years. Zumthor’s design delicately rises from the ruins of a late-Gothic church, respecting the site’s history and preserving its essence. ”They [the Archdiocese] believe in the inner values of art, its ability to make us think and feel, its spiritual values. This project emerged from the inside out, and from the place,” explained Zumthor at the museum’s opening.

More about the project and more of Vazquez’s images after the break.

Zumthor, consistently mindful of the use of the materials, and specifically their construction details, has used grey brick to unite the destroyed fragments of the site. These fragments include the remaining pieces of the Gothic church, stone ruins from the Roman and medieval periods, and German architect Gottfried Böhm’s 1950 chapel for the “Madonna of the Ruins.”

The facade of grey brick integrates the remnants of the church’s facade into a new face for the contemporary museum. Articulated with perforations, the brick work allows diffused light to fill specific spaces of the museum. As the seasons change, the”mottled light shifts and plays across the ruins,” creating a peaceful ever-changing environment.

The museum includes 16 different exhibition rooms and, at the heart of the building, a secret garden courtyard – a quiet and secluded place for reflection.

The materiality plays such an important role in the overall design, and Zumthor, known for taking his time to develop projects, searched quite awhile for the perfect material. Handcrafted by Petersen Tegl of Denmark, the bricks were specifically developed for this project, as they were fired with charcoal to imbue a warm hue.

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

: © Jose Fernando Vazquez

Source: Debra Moffitt for Architecture Week

Cite:
Cilento , Karen . "Kolumba Museum / Peter Zumthor" 06 Aug 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 25 May 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/72192>

Comments (28)
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arch student says:

just AMAZING!

# August 6, 2010 at 16:49

brb001 says:

I’d love to see this in person. Superb.

# August 6, 2010 at 17:11

brandon says:

sorry. but these photos seem to make a truly amazing work of architecture appear flat and lifeless. Noting resembling the essence of this building comes through.

# August 6, 2010 at 17:12

tDA says:

Absolute perfection.

# August 6, 2010 at 17:30

1. FC Koeln says:

No doubt, these images are beautiful – but they leave out the best part of it: the beautiful detailing of the stair case / the amazing detailing of the intersections of walls/floor/windows / the beauty of only the goods’ lift / the mesmerizing atmosphere in the inner courtyard / the beautiful detailing/atmosphere, even in the bathrooms / the stunning reading room… – this project reflects very much, why Zumthor achieved the Pritzker Prize… and these beautiful images do not even tell half the truth!

# August 6, 2010 at 17:47

AxeTB says:

Agreed! I was there last year and you are absolutely right about the stairs, windows, floors, and even bathrooms! The feeling you get of walking on floating floors is wonderful, yet very hard to experience on pictures.

I found there’s something very odd about the stairs. Going down them, they seemed to be coming right at you and I found them almost confusing.

# August 6, 2010 at 18:20

El says:

Exquisite.

# August 6, 2010 at 17:59

Dodongo says:

Beautiful building, but the stair color is completely off. Especially with the rest of the material palette. Makes it look like a utilitarian egress stair, when upon closer inspection it’s actual very well designed.

# August 6, 2010 at 18:06

Jason says:

Zumthor is GOD.

# August 6, 2010 at 20:55

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Doug C says:

A bit of a pastiche, while certain details,like the steel exterior staircase, are beautifully done it seems more like a skilled commercial firm.

# August 7, 2010 at 11:20

Prahato says:

Much as I usually admire Zumthor and appreciate his skill and thoughtfulness, I really can’t reconcile the building and its site. Yes the church and courtyard are intact, and I am sure spatially they work well, but the building sits so heavily and arrogantly on the site. The interior is different, but I think that although it echoes Zumthor’s simplicity, little of the beauty of his other work is there.

# August 7, 2010 at 12:31

anon says:

I agree somewhat. The duplicity of the flatness of Zumthor’s walls against the audaciously ornate gothic ruins and how each meets the ground @ the sidewalk doesn’t sit right with me (however that could be the point). The pictures of the interior show spot-on Zumthor, heavy materials evoking a light and airy feeling. The project is very much in the spirit of what Zumthor espouses in his written work about memory.

# August 7, 2010 at 14:09

amflores says:

Completelly agree. No matter I understand the idea and really like the general image of the project and the interiors, you can´t help but think that this proposal somehow makes keeping the ruins unnecesary which sure is an irony.

# August 11, 2010 at 16:52

dashen says:

Peter Zumthor is a master.

# August 7, 2010 at 15:21

up_today_arch says:

It sits heavy on the site in reason, that every ancient church sited very heavy inside midevial towns. Normally, never was enough space around old churches. Main goal, was achived, is the atmosfear of midevial times, made by contemporary facilities. If examine this building moor closely, it’s look very similar to SANAA’s New York Museum of Contemporary Art by impression, but really each of them has it’s own masterpiece.

# August 8, 2010 at 11:12

Sean says:

This looks like an amazing building. The photography is pretty terrible though. So much lense distortion. Photographers have to realize that shooting with a wide lense such as this sometimes requires post production work. There are some decent ones, but id love to see it in good light.

# August 9, 2010 at 10:19

Hayley Stewart says:

How were you able to take pictures? I tried but the gaurd yelled at me! This is a fantastic building. The pictures are great but the feeling you get when you walk in is something that you have to experience and is hard to describe.

# August 9, 2010 at 11:13

robledo duarte says:

That’s I call architecture. That´s the diference between god and bad architects.Peter Zumthor, in this masterpiece, makes the dialog between the old and the new with class and order. That´s a real class for architects that think that architecture is transforming cities em ladys gaga´s dresses…

# August 9, 2010 at 14:25

José Fernando Vázquez-Pérez says:

Zumthor might not literally be God, but he’s a convincing apostle of truth and honesty in architecture. And as a spatial encounter this was certainly the closest to a religious experience as an agnostic can have. Some have commented that the pictures don’t do justice to the building; although that’s usually standard for all good architecture, it is particularly true in this case. One definitely needs to be there, and feel it in order to really appreciate Zumthor’s dexterity. As Hanley Stewart states, photography shouldn’t be mistaken as a substitute for experience…

# August 9, 2010 at 19:48

Salvadore says:

Pictures are quite bad. I saw the building and I will see it again soon. I will take some pictures of how do i see the Kolumba Museum and share them. I guess the ultra-wide lens does not make such a good job in this case…. I don’t want to be rude or anything but I really think here: http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&w=all&q=kolumba+museum&m=text you can see many better pictures from mostly regular people. Even on the second page…. http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&w=all&q=kolumba+museum&m=text#page=2

# September 8, 2010 at 09:32

NS says:

Thank you for the images of the unseen corner’s of Zumthor’s work. Although I am somewhat disappointed with extreme wide angle of the camera producing awkward and inaccurate depictions of his work.

# August 11, 2010 at 13:59

kn says:

This is a amazing building, transporting feelings in a way that only very few buildings do – but these photographs make it look like flat boring usual piece of thoughtless brickbatch. why are you using such bad pictures? Im sorry for being so rough!

# December 1, 2010 at 06:48

Joan says:

The photographe should be fired, awfull work.
go buy some eyes instead of a new lens camera.

# December 10, 2010 at 16:54

Esteban Andujar-Schott says:

Great pictures! Can they be-reused if given proper credit to the photographer? We’re working on an architectural catalog of modern religious buildings in Germany and would like to use some of the pictures. Please contact me at .

# December 12, 2010 at 12:26

e.andujar.schott@gmail.com

# December 12, 2010 at 12:30

ARCHILEPSYmagazine says:

I have to admit I was underwhelmed when I first saw images of this building. However, in person it completely blew me away. From the subdued urban response and the sacred spatial qualities of the ruins, to the carefully orchestrated progression of spaces in the museum and unparalleled quality of details within….an absolutely amazing piece of architecture.

# December 29, 2010 at 13:12

arto saari says:

hello to everybody…in 2010 i was also at the columba museum by peter zumthor. for me this picture here was the best i took inside the building. it such a great building from an architect how is nearly perfect :)

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/3116/sany2611.jpg

enjoy

# January 27, 2011 at 12:15

4:03 PM Aug 6th

rental_watanabe 2.0

【archi info】 Kolumba Musuem / Peter Zumthor http://dlvr.it/3TSPd #Museums_and_Libraries (archdaily) #rental_archiinfo

4:13 PM Aug 6th

Bocetos Digitales

Kolumba Musuem / Peter Zumthor: © Jose Fernando VazquezSpecial thanks to our reader Jose Fernando Vazquez from Urb… http://bit.ly/9c5jBP

4:25 PM Aug 6th

Architecture+Molding

Kolumba Musuem / Peter Zumthor: Special thanks to our reader Jose Fernando Vazquez from Urbana Arquitectura (view … http://bit.ly/9c5jBP