architectures david tajchman: stealth new maribor museum

architectures david tajchman: stealth new maribor museum

architectures david tajchman received an honorable mention for his proposal ‘stealth’ for the competition to design the new maribor museum in slovenia.

slovenian lacework tradition

the external enveloppe uses a pattern shown in various treatments. perforated, it works as a brise – soleil and filters natural light for exhibitions spaces. on floors the same pattern is used but in relief, making surfaces non-slippery, especially on the walkable roof. the perforated material is also used in ceilings to hide technical elements like air conditioning and ventilation systems.

the project consists of fragmented carspaces on roofs, facades and ceilings of external covered spaces. like a stealth, the project is inserted in the city in direct visual and morphologic relation with its context.

the pixelated pattern is also used for signage in the entire museum. set as a roof cover, the holes stock rainwater, recycled for the building needs.

exhibition spaces are varied in height, width and length. they all offer different conditions of light, mostly natural light and a system of occultation allows to convert the spaces into black rooms. in both museum departments, a structural elements contains technical elements like lighting, electricity or air conditioning. it also contains spaces for stocking materials. removable partition walls slip from those structural elements to subdivide the exhibition space.

staircase organisation

the inclined condition of the museum’s site has driven the project implementation and organisation. elevating the museum galleries at level one offers a covered public space on ground floor and allows a ramp connection from the upper side to the roof of the project. the museum is thus accessible from the river and the elevated back side of the site. learning from maribor urban organisation along the drava, the project operates by gradually going up or down volumetrically. a staircase working as a daily city room, crossing and supporting the entire museum complex is the key point of the proposal.

night view

side elevation

front elevation

floor plan

floor plan floor plan

maribor is well located, at the crosspoint of alps, adriatic and the balkans. venice, vienna, graz or budapest are all at a close distance by car or by train from maribor, which means that the new maribor art gallery will be part of an eastern network of art cities. with the 2012 european capital label, the short distance from other big museum cities, visitors and tourists will probably stop by maribor for new reasons.

location of the museum

the project frees the existing and inclined ground level, connecting the drava bank with the upper side of the neighborhood. people pass through the covered ground floor, an open public space for outdoor protected activities of the UGM. in this way, the project aims to encourage visual connections between the old and the modern city. like a drava bank extension,the ground continues under the museum offering various programmatic events emerging like ground distortions.

autonomous program elements

the new museum gallery gathers various program elements with different scheduled activities and opening hours. every element of the program has its own external access. the ground floor and second floor are freely accessible from outside, permitting direct independent access and different schedule openings.

project info:

name: stealth – new maribor museum architecture competitionplace: maribor, slovenia program: museum for visual arts area: 15000 m2 year: february 2010 client: ugm architect: david tajchman intern: luke izri results: 4th prize – honorable mention