New Entrance for Glentleiten open air Museum, Bavaria Germany
European Architectural Competition
The Glentleiten open air museum purpose is to provide detailed insight into the everyday life of the people of upper Bavaria, their construction and building culture and their working environment. The content : more than 60 original buildings have been conserved and translocated together with their equipment to be restored in the midst of a landscape cultivated to conform to historic patterns.
The tranquil rural landscape of Glentleiten gives the identity to the open air museum, in which the thematic content of the pre-industrial architecture and technology "sprouted". The proposed entrance building defines the threshold through which one passes from today to yesterday. Characterised more by shaping the landscape with a simple gesture and less from it’s own architectural presence.
The shaping of the landscape is done by two parallel “cuts” which defines two distinctive zones with different qualities and functions. The southern zone is lifted by extending the hill to a green roof - "belvedere". From up there one has full panoramic view of the open-air museum, as a foretaste, before entering through the building beneath. The northern zone, beside the road, is lowered to form a more protected reception square, a gathering point, with intense public function. The new entrance and recreation building is developed east, while the building of the educational programs, the old "Starkerer Stadel", becomes part of the composition as it’s northern front. The invitation to pass through the new entrance building is the decline of the central region. A transparent curved screen allows full panoramic view to the inside, promoting the shop displays and directing the flow to the destinations: Museum and Exhibitions visit, or recreation to the restaurant and the beer brewery.
Visitors approaching from the street or from the parking, are guided effortlessly to the reception square. From the North, visitors are coming straight from the crossroads to be welcomed by a well defined atrium like open air space. From the South, visitors descent a wide slope through a theater facing the entrance square. The social aspect of the entrance and the square are emphasised by archetypical devices : patio, theater. The diagonal positioning of the entrance building seeks the development of a front, with beneficial South orientation. Inside, the diagonal layout ensures the smooth flow of people and the controlled autonomy of the different supporting functions. The main reference is the small beer brewery in the center, prominent with double height.