ART MUSEUM , B ERNE ,
SWITZERLAND
ARCHITECT
RENZO PIANO
MONUMENT
FOR A MINIATURIST
A new museum dedicated to Paul Klee swells seductively into the Swiss landscape.
1
The rollercoaster profile of
the arched steel members
forms the defining image of
the new museum.
The arcaded streets of the old town of Berne, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site, have acquired a counterpart in the pedestrian concourse
that links the three volumes of the Zentrum Paul Klee, Renzo Pianos
latest showcase for art. An undulating steel structure emerges from
three hills to the east of the city, facing over the ringroad and surrounded
by elds. Its a monument that celebrates the work of a brilliant
miniaturist; a fusion of architecture and landscape, warmth and precision,
structural daring and welcoming interiors. It captures the unique spirit of
a native son who made his reputation in Germany, ed Nazi persecution
to return home for a nal burst of creativity, and is buried close by.
Klee was astonishingly prolic, meticulously recording the 10 000
works he created in his thirty-year career. Not a day without a sketch,
he noted in his journal, even as he neared his death in 1940. Members
of the artists family and the Klee Foundation promised to donate their
astounding hoard of 4000 paintings and drawings if Berne would provide
a dedicated space to show them. The chief sponsors were Professor
Maurice Mller, a surgeon who invented the articial hip, and his wife,
Martha, who selected the location and the architect, and insisted that the
building be a centre for all the arts and for people of all ages. Piano has
created a museum that reaches out to embrace the visitors who stream
in from footpaths, city bus, and motorway.
Like so many of his buildings, the Zentrum has a strong, simple diagram
that belies the complexity of its design and construction. Piano shifted
the site from the one that had rst been chosen to address the sunken
motorway, mirroring its gentle curve in the glass facade and even in the
lines of vents cut into the oors of the galleries. That gives the building
a symbolic link to the contemporary world, and to the city that lies
beyond, concealed within its river valley. The undulating topography of the
adjoining hills inspired the prole of the steel beams, which swoop and
soar like a rollercoaster, rising from the earth at the rear to form a trio
of imposing arches in front. Each rounded vault encloses a discrete set
of spaces that are linked at the front by a 150m long glazed concourse
containing the caf, ticketing, shop, and reference area. Extended opening
hours encourage visitors to come early or linger in this protected piazza.
A changing selection from the permanent collection is displayed in the
central pavilion, with a temporary exhibition gallery below. To the north,
meeting and restoration areas lead out of the concourse, with a creative
workshop for children below, and a subterranean auditorium behind. The
south pavilion contains the administrative ofces, archives, and seminar
rooms, all on the main level.
The 4.2km of steel girders were cut and shaped by computercontrolled machines but then, because each section has a different
conguration, the 40km of seams were hand-welded. The arches are
slightly inclined at different angles, braced by compression struts, and
tied to the roof plate and oor slabs. In contrast to this assembly of
unique parts, the concrete oors were constructed as a single structure,
without settlement joints. The glass facade is divided into upper and
lower sections, which are joined at the 4m roof level of the concourse,
and are suspended from girders to avert stress from thermal expansion
in the steel roof. The glass is shaded by exterior mesh blinds that extend
automatically in response to the intensity of the light, and the high level
of insulation minimizes energy consumption.
All of these measures pay off in the galleries and archives, where
temperature and humidity must be maintained at constant levels, even
though they are seamlessly linked to the busy public concourse. The
permanent collection is displayed beneath the curved vault in a 1700sqm
room that is divided by suspended ats into a benign labyrinth of
interconnecting spaces. Each white screen hovers a couple of centimetres
above the oak oor as do the peripheral walls. To achieve the low lighting
level required by these sensitive works, illumination is indirect and
ltered. Spots cast their beams on the white-boarded ceiling vault, and
this glow is diffused by suspended square scrims.
ART MUSEUM , B ERNE , S WITZERLAND
ARCHITECT
RENZO PIANO
3
A serpentine path
leads up to the main
entrance.
3
2
2
The trio of
topographic bumps
mimics the gentle
undulations of
the surrounding
landscape.
32 | 8
4
To the rear, the vaults merge
into the ground. Planting
will gradually be established
between the ridges to make the
transition more seamless.
5
5
The tapering profile of the vaults.
6
Detail of main facade and inclined
steel arches.
site plan
cross section
34 | 8
long section through north pavilion (concourse, cinema, auditorium)
long section through middle pavilion (concourse, galleries)
7
Caf and information area in the
soaring public concourse that
unites that trio of vaults and
runs along the main facade.
11
11
9
10
12
10
8
6
15
4
5
13
1
14
2
ground floor plan (scale approx 1:750)
ART MUSEUM , B ERNE , S WITZERLAND
ARCHITECT
RENZO PIANO
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
north pavilion
central pavilion
south pavilion
main entrance
concourse
information
caf
servery
cinema
AV rooms
restoration workshops
permanent collection
shop
reference section
ofces and administration
temporary galleries
auditorium
childrens workshop
17
16
18
36 | 8
lower ground floor
Its easy to see in the open geometry of the plan a reference to some
of Klees compositions, and the skein of slender cables supporting walls,
lights, and scrims evokes his spidery penmanship. Pianos greatest feat is
to give these tiny, intense works the space they need to breathe. Such a
concentration of invention could easily overwhelm the viewer; here, each
work seems to oat in its own white void, bathed in a cloud of soft light,
achieving an emotional as well as a formal resonance. Works are grouped,
not chronologically, but by afnity, so that you can explore the innite
variety of ways in which this master employed line, colour, gurative and
abstract imagery; always enigmatic and never repetitive. Toplit stairs and
a piston-operated lift that is a work of art in itself carry you down to
a room of similar size that presently houses the 366 sketches Klee did
in his last fertile year. Here, the works are arranged on a peripheral and
inner wall that trace the rectangle dened by slender structural columns.
Scattered around both galleries on oak plinths are 40 hand puppets
that Klee made around 1920 to amuse his family. Fabricated from the
commonplace materials and crudely painted, they have a compelling
talismanic quality, revealing the inner child in the artist and in all who
connect with his work.
That spirit carries over into the childrens museum, aptly named
Creaviva for its emphasis on creative play in a succession of workshops
that are open to all ages. The steeply-raked 300-seat auditorium that
burrows into the ground behind is a black box lined with curved
sound bafes in the same orange hue as the Venetian plaster walls of
the outer lobby. Regular performances of chamber music (Klee was an
accomplished violinist), dance, and theatre will be interspersed with
lectures and readings. All will reect the versatility of the artist and his
friends over four turbulent decades and their enduring legacy.
MICHAEL WEBB
ART MUSEUM , B ERNE , S WITZERLAND
ARCHITECT
RENZO PIANO
9
10
Architect
Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Genoa
Associate architect
ARB Architects, Berne
Structural engineers
Ove Arup & Partners, B + S Ingenieure
Services engineers
Ove Arup & Partners, Luco, Enerconom, Bering
Photographs
Paul Raftery/VIEW
38 | 8
8
The curve of the arch runs through
the glazed link between volumes.
9
Main gallery for the permanent
Klee collection.
10
Main gallery is an airy labyrinth
of suspended flat panels that
subdivide the space. In places, light
is diffused by horizontal scrims.
11
Part of the childrens workshop at
11
