An expansion designed by :mlzd Architects, based in Biel, Switzerland, for the Historisches Museum Bern creates a multileveled dialogue between old and new architecture. Designed by the Swiss architect André Lambert in 1894, the original structure is near the Kirchenfeld Bridge, which crosses the Aare River and connects this area’s cluster of museums to the historic section of Bern. Lambert designed the history museum in a Revivalist style to recall architecture (especially castles) of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Over time, the museum — which houses collections devoted to prehistoric material, folk art, ethnographic objects, and various kinds of decorative and applied art — found it urgently needed to expand. Fortunately, a donation of 2 million Swiss francs (approximately $2,020,000) from the Abegg Foundation enabled the museum to organize an international architectural competition in 2000 for the design of an extension.
The glass curtain wall on the north facade of the extension edges a plaza atop the exhibition hall and compellingly reflects older buildings.
The column-free structure of the exhibition hall allows flexibility in the installation of exhibitions.
A cascading stair in the new building receives daylight through randomly placed apertures.
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