Spatial hierarchies: Märkisches Museum in Berlin Architect: Ludwig Hoffmann (1908)
all exhibits have been exhausted. In extreme cases implemented sporadically in the twentieth century, the compulsory tour not only extends over one floor, but across the entire building. In the face of the absence of exits, signs of fatigue are inevitable – not only among the public. The educational value also remains modest – as long as only one work is lined up next to another, the museum undersells itself. Clout only emerges from the sum of the information. Key to this are the (spatial) relations which the museum sets up among its exhibits. All exhibits are ideally positioned around the core message. Irrespective of whichever system is brought into play, there always follows a main room that branches out into others.
Circuit in its pure form: Naples National Archaeological Museum Architect: Pompeo Schiantarelli (1790)
The Swiss National Museum, which Gustav Gull built in Zürich in 1898, and Ludwig Hoffman’s Märkisches Museum, which opens one decade later in Berlin, provide two examples among many. Indeed, both put the exhibition system before even the interiors and façades, and in an exemplary manner: for example, the detour to religion has been designed as a church here and there. At the time, no circulatory system in its pure form is realised more often than this system of cul-de-sacs. The design leeway afforded to museum designers by this organisational concept demonstrates spatial hierarchies which reflect one-to-one the class-based society of the nineteenth century. The fact that these are ultimately dead-ends only becomes apparent at a later point in time. However, the majority of museums build on hybrid forms (for example, Klenze with the Pinakothek in Munich parallel to Schinkel in Berlin). Generations of architectural historians have since superimposed their floor plans without being able to bring them into alignment. The conclusion is clear: there is still a long way to go before the ideal mix is found. Henceforth, no design for a museum is able to escape this quest. The art of planning consists in that which unites all museums – even from the very outset: the appearance. The structures thoroughly embellish themselves with the tried and tested – both inside and out.
System of cul-de-sacs: Swiss National Museum in Zürich Architect: Gustav Gull (1898) The History and Theory of the Museum Building
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