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Below is a complete set of photos, blueprints, and facade of the David Chipperfield Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach am Neckar, Germany. The museum won the 2007 RIBA Stirling Prize at an awards ceremony in London on Saturday (Dezeen was the first to hear about this. Course).
All photos copyright Christian Richters.
The following text and credits are by the architects, followed by a (somewhat repetitive) statement by the Sterling Award jury.
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Museum of Modern Literature,
Marbach am Neckar, Germany
2002 - 2006
The museum is located in the scenic park of Marbach, on a rocky plateau overlooking the Neckar River valley. The birthplace of playwright Friedrich Schiller, the park is already home to the National Schiller Museum, built in 1903, and the German Literature Archive, built in the 1970s. From the rich 20th century collection of the German Literature Archive, the museum displays, among other things, original copies of novels. Franz Kafka's "The Trial" and Alfred Dehlin's "Berlin Alexanderplatz" are also located here, and the museum also offers panoramic views of distant landscapes.
Located in the topography, the museum shows different heights depending on the angle of view. The steep slope of the site allows the terrace to create very different features - an intimate shaded entrance with vestibule and balcony to the hillside facing the National Schiller Museum, and a series of larger, more park open floors. This space overlooks the valley below.
The pavilion-like volume is located on the highest terrace and serves as the entrance to the museum. The interior of the museum is revealed as one descends the corridors, foyers, and staircases, preparing the visitor to enter the exhibition galleries, which, due to the fragility and delicacy of the works on display, are illuminated only by light and artificially dark wood panels.
At the same time, each of these environmentally controlled spaces is adjacent to a naturally lit gallery, balancing the beautiful lush valley behind the glass with views into the composed, inner world of texts and manuscripts.
A clearly defined material concept using solid materials (flat concrete, sandblasted reconstituted stone with limestone aggregate, limestone, wood, felt, and glass) gives the streamlined architecture a calm, sensual physical presence.
Credits:
Location: Marbach am Neckar, Germany
Client: Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach: Prof. Ulrich Rauwolf, Dr. Heike Gufrereis, Dr. Roland Kamzelak
Date of competition: 2002
Completion date: January 2006
Opening date: June 2006
Total floor area: 3,800 m2
Design Architect: David Chipperfield Architect
Competition Team: Alexander Schwarz (Competition Architect), Harald Müller, Martina Betzold, Andrea Hartmann, Christian Helfrich, Franziska Rusch, Tobias Stiller, Vincent Taupitz, Mirjam von Busch
Project Team: Alexander Schwarz (Project Architect), Harald Müller, Martina Betzold, Laura Fogarasi, Barbara Koller, Hannah Jonas
Site Supervisors: Wenzel + Wenzel, Karlsruhe, Matthias Wenzel, Roland Goeppel: Bernhard Eggert, Ulla Ittenzorn, Holger Weinbach, Isabelle Finke, Janine Morine Brehm, Corina Vacker
Project Management: Drees & Sommer Projektmanagement and Bautechnische Beratung: Dierk Mutschler, Andreas Schele, Kerstin Schwan
Structural Engineers: Ingenieurgruppe Bauen: Josef Seiler, Gerhard Eisele, Markus Filian
Service Engineers: Jaeger, Mornhinweg + Ingenieurgesellschaft Partners: Ernst Göppel, Wolfgang Klein, Stefanie Klose, Ibb Burrer + Deuring Ingenieurbüro GmbH: Siegmund Burrer, Otto Riedel Structural work: Leonhard Weiss GmbH & Co. KG, Goeppingen: Furniture craftsman Thomas Kienle / Installation: Friedrich Hanselmann KG Mabel und Ingenieurbüro: Mr. Hanselmann Natural stone work Schön & Hippelein Natursteinwerke GmbH & Co. KG: Ernst Hippelein Floor: Lindner AG, Armstorf: Mr. Wasmaier Facade: Vereinigte Holzbaubetriebe Wilhelm Pfalzer & Hans Vogt GmbH: Klaus Model Osterrieder: Model Rüdiger Hammerschmidt Photo: Hisao Suzuki Photo: Christian Richters
Service Engineers: Jaeger, Mornhinweg + Ingenieurgesellschaft Partners: Ernst Göppel, Wolfgang Klein, Stefanie Klose, Ibb Burrer + Deuring Ingenieurbüro GmbH: Siegmund Burrer, Otto Riedel
Structural work: Leonhard Weiss GmbH & Co. KG, Göppingen: Thomas Kienle
Cabinetmaker/furniture accessories: Friedrich Hanselmann KG Möbel und Innenausbau: Mr. Hanselmann
Natural stone works: Schön & Hippelein Natursteinwerke GmbH & Co. KG: Ernst
Hippelein
Floor: Lindner AG, Armstorf: Mr. Wasmaier
Facade: Vereinigte Holzbaubetriebe Wilhelm Pfalzer & Hans Vogt
GmbH: Klaus Osterrieder
Model: Rüdiger Hammerschmidt
Photo Model: Hisao Suzuki
Photo: Christian Richters
Comments from the Stirling Prize Jury: "After reunification, the writings of German writers, previously scattered between East and West, were collected in this new museum.
After reunification, the writings of German authors, previously scattered in the East and West, have been collected in this new museum. The entrance sequence is excellent. Visitors cross an open terrace overlooking the valley, ascend a series of shallow steps, and enter through a huge hardwood door. On its descent, the building was combined with a rich and carefully selected palette of materials and illuminated by the gentle light above to express its genealogy, the sense of going somewhere beyond. This route ends with a permanent collection. Here, glass cabinets containing original manuscripts create a sparkling, magical spectacle.
There is much to admire about this building - the architect's control and distinction in the choice of materials is now a hallmark - but above all it is the treatment of the "difficult whole" in which this building excelled. This is a rich yet restrained building, a trick that Chipperfield could pull off with any architect working today. But it is the handling of the "difficult whole" that this building excels at.
（Getting people to look at a book or manuscript that is only a page or two long (unless arranged) is not an easy summary. Chipperfield responded by creating a building that provides half of the visitor experience. If not a temple, it is a shrine to the souls of those who can read and write.
