Landesmuseum Zürich

The Swiss National Museum is located at the southern end of the Platzspitz Park, bounded by the two river courses, the River Limmat to the east and the River Sihl to the west. The building volume marks the claimed territory towards the station up to its natural borders. This generates on the south side an urban street space, which, with the location of the forecourt, connects the axis of vision through the station hall with Bahnhof Street. On the west side of the Sihl, the Limmat Street finds its conclusion, the axis of vision ending at the area of the emergency access for the ambulance to Shopville. The clear orientation of the existing building towards the station enables, to the north, the unique green space for the city park.

The existing museum building is characterized by its distinctive vertical accents, clearly perceptible to both the nearby and the more distant surroundings. The project envisions the museum extension in the form of two single-story volumes, eccentric to the existing building lines, two urban volumes. Cardinal markers in the urban context occupy the public access areas. The project follows the principle of “occupying the site up to its natural boundary” on the north side and supports the tangential pathways along the river courses to the park. The underground connections to the station reinforced with the newly designed access points.

The new entrance building for the museum lies on the axis of vision to Bahnhof Street. Long, flat; the transparent volume remains, in contrast to the existing building, restrained in its vertical development. The large canopy marks at pedestrian level the sign of entrance and communication yet allows the visual connections to the vertical accents of the museum to remain. The interplay between high and low, horizontal, and vertical, massive, and light, integrates the extension into the overall complex.

The drop-off area for coaches and taxis ensures good accessibility for motorized traffic at the main entrance. In the basement, studio cinema, shop, and multimedia connect the National Museum to the shopping passage.

The extended exhibitions integrated in the western area. The new building takes root at the head of the Zollbruecke. The public access to the park is situated between the building volume and the Sihl. The wide-spanning canopies of the exhibition volume mark places of publicity, of meetings, and of community. While on the north side this mediates the connection from the Shopville access to an independent entrance “Special Exhibition West,” in the south the roof defines the exterior space of the event rooms.

In the intermediate space to the existing building, a new ramp provides access to the new delivery yard in the basement. Deliveries, parking, and exhibition preparation accommodated in this area at ground level from Museum Street.

Client: Bundesamt für Bauten und Logistik Schweiz

Planning: Rossetti+Wyss Architekten, Lüchinger Meyer Partner AG, Waldhauser Haustechnik AG

Competition: 2001