Studio Gugger | History Museum Bern

Historical development & urban planning concept

The urban development concept is naturally derived from the historical development of the Kirchenfeld neighbourhood. The urban expansion of the 19th century, based on an excellent neighbourhood plan, has created structures that are still valid today.

The heterogeneous and fragmented inner structure of the Museumsquartier is a consequence of the clear and robust development structure established by the construction of the Bernisches Historisches Museum (BHM). The access structure, with the laterally located streets of Berna- and Helvetiastrasse, not only serves the public entrances, but of course also the various storage and car parks as well as deliveries.

Consequently, the streets of Berna- and Helvetiastrasse need to be strengthened and the crossings of the ladder-shaped access structure between these streets need to be made more permeable, the relationships between the institutions need to be improved and, where possible, longitudinal connections need to be established, such as between the National Library and the Kirchenfeld school building. Establishing an inner main thoroughfare would be a Herculean task and would be absurd because it would weaken the existing urban structures.

Helvetiastrasse is to be developed into an actual museum promenade with double rows of trees. A name swap with the previously named Museumsstrasse is an obvious and efficient first measure. By raising the street level to the trottoir level, slow traffic is to be encouraged in the new Museumstrasse. This measure will calm and revitalise the Museum Quarter. Visitors and passers-by will naturally be guided to the entrances of the various institutions. This also applies to the new south entrance of the BHM, which is prominently integrated into the extension of the cube.

Open space

The museum building, an important witness to the 19th century, is conceived as a monumental, slightly elevated gesture and is characterised by green garden spaces that extend right up to the façades and a strong stock of trees. As a pictorial conclusion to the Kirchenfeld Bridge, the museum is the prelude to the English-style Kirchenfeld neighbourhood with its villas and intensively greened gardens. Different atmospheres, focussed vistas, staged visual axes and pictorial staffages as well as the precise figurative positioning of trees create a dense juxtaposition of different spatial sequences and uses. The unique character and style of the expansive idea is subtly derived from the pictorial collections of the English landscape garden and shaped the garden style of historicism in Switzerland in miniaturised form.

In order to strengthen this important witness for Switzerland, the garden spaces will be adapted to the original spirit of the time.
spirit of the times. With individual changes and
corrections, the different garden images are being brought back into an ideal context in the spirit of garden monument preservation. The reclaimed spatial sequences combine to form a large whole, accommodate a wide variety of uses and possibilities for utilisation and appropriation and create kaleidoscopic stages for temporary exhibitions in the garden. In front of the main portal on Helvetiaplatz, the gentle slopes of the Burgundian carpet of a thousand flowers is translated into real plants and reclaimed as a permanent allegory. The north-facing screen of the cube is contrasted with a body of trees on the piazza, which, as a slightly raised deck, accommodates the substrate body and a controlled water level and at the same time creates a grandstand for the square. This makes it possible to recreate a space continuum characterised by greenery on a human scale for this area too.

Architectural design and spatial organisation

How should the romantic castle in the south connect with the museum park and open up to the public? The cube has not provided an answer to this question. On the contrary, it seems to want to protect the Romanesque castle with a baroque fortification in a backward-looking gesture. We do not want to add anything to this mix of styles, but rather renew the existing complex using mimicry and open it up through a catchy spatial organisation.

To this end, the cube will be extended at the interface with the Moser building by partially building over the monumental staircase and reducing it to an appropriate width. The south entrance will be inserted into this extension. The entrance foyer connects the park level with the level of the piazza. At this neuralgic transition from north to south, an internal and external spatial relationship is created simultaneously and the extended cube radiates a new openness through the windows arranged at different heights, thus emphasising the reference to the present.

At the same time, the increase in volume is barely perceptible given the lack of scale of the cube. The orthogonal recesses embedded in the cube suggest a
wall structure made of stone blocks. It therefore makes sense to clad the extension of the cube with clay bricks that match the texture and colour of the existing concrete surface. This type of construction is sustainable, efficient and allows the interface to the existing building to be created easily.

The second large-scale change, the lateral additions to the staircase and the resulting southern extension of the central gable roof, is also only recognisable at second glance. The other small-scale changes, such as the direct access to the bistro on the garden level of the Moser building, are executed in the respective architectural language and thus fit seamlessly into the existing formal canon.

The principle of inconspicuous, self-evident measures is also applied to the reorganisation of the interior space. The aim is to restore the building to its original historical state while removing the later fixtures and fittings. In order to ensure the dynamic utilisation and flexibility of the space, it is necessary above all to improve the vertical circulation. A large lift and an escape staircase will be added to the main staircase in the centre. Laterally, the towers of the wing buildings will be converted into attractive stairwells with lifts.