Museum of
Modern Art Salzburg Mönchsberg, Salzburg, Austria
Architect
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Friedrich Hoff Zwink Architekten
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Date Built
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Completed
2006
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Location
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The Mönchsberg Plateau
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Description
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Salzburg's Museum of Modern
art sits high up above the city centre on
the Monchsberg. Access from the
centre is via a bank of elevators.
The museum occupies the rectangualar
building below and behind it is an old
water tower that has been refurbished to
provide accommodation for the artist in
residence.
Writing about the design of the museum the
architects point out that, "....
The Mönchsberg plateau is full of
movement; the hill itself is layered
horizontally, with vertical fissures
running though it. This structure gave
us the idea of conceiving the Museum
as a monolithic block, with vertical
clefts running through horizontally
layered rooms. These cavities cut out
of the monolith let daylight into the
area of the foyer, the lowest level of
the building, thus enabling the
visitor to find his bearings by
natural light. ....
.... The Museum is the
place where the work of art and the
viewer come together. It is a place
for (re)collection, contemplation and
exchange of views. Through the
institution these elements become
ritualised. By accommodating and
displaying the work of art, the museum
creates a framework for these
activities. Like the frame which marks
the boundary of a picture, detaching
it from the background and enabling
the viewer to become absorbed in the
work alone, the institution enhances
the aura of the work through the very
act of exhibiting it. The motif of the
frame recurs at various points in our
Museum. Thus the visitor feels a link
with the surrounding landscape through
framed views, which on the one hand
demonstrate the beauty of nature by
juxtaposing an art picture with a
nature picture, and on the other allow
the eye of the viewer to rest."
Not everyone was impressed with the
building. In an article published on
the "nextroom.at" website Hubertus Adam
says that in his opinion, "... The
view from the Museum der Moderne,
which has just been completed on the
Mönchsberg in Salzburg, is
breathtaking. The architecture of the
new building, on the other hand, is
less inspiring. It flirts with
minimalism, but only achieves
mediocrity." In
conclusion he poses the question "was
everything done correctly" and
his answer is, "You could say yes,
because the Museum der Moderne is
flexible and works well. But what he
lacks is spatial magic, that is
restrained elegance, that is subtle
tension. The new building comes across
as somewhat well-behaved and banal -
minimalism on an epigonal level."
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