barozzi veiga clads monolithic art museum in lausanne with vertical brick fins

barcelona-based firm barozzi veiga has completed a major new museum in switzerland, which will open to the public in october 2019. the project — the musée cantonal des beaux-arts de lausanne, or the museum of fine arts — forms part of a larger masterplan for the city’s three main museums, originally proposed by barozzi veiga in 2011. located in close proximity to lausanne’s central railway station, the two hectare site was previously occupied by a 19th century train hall as well as other industrial buildings.

image © jean-bernard sieber (main image © matthieu gafsou)

conceived as a ‘longitudinal monolithic volume’, the museum of fine arts (MCBA) runs parallel to the railway lines at the southern edge of the plot. referencing the former industrial condition of the site, the building embraces its setting with textural brick façades and rigorous geometry. ‘the MCBA is specific to its site, it tries to establish a link with a certain atmosphere, to anchor it in the city in both space and history,’ explains barozzi veiga.

image © simon menges

furthermore, the scheme preserves part of the original train hall and utilizes it as significant part of the project. protruding in a perpendicular direction towards the railway tracks, the hall’s arched window is highlighted by the new museum building behind it. ‘the overall building is relatively hermetic , to protect the collections of the museum, and hence has a closed, introverted façade to the rails, on the south, and a more open, permeable, animated façade on the north,’ the design team continues.

image © matthieu gafsou

upon entry, visitors immediately encounter the glazed arch, which both resonates with the double-height space of the foyer and connects it with the view of the tracks beyond. this ‘saved fragment’ also structures the program, organizing the main circulation to the upper floors, and separating the permanent and temporary exhibitions.

image © simon menges

the museum is organized across three-storeys with the ground floor containing the social functions of the program: the foyer, bookshop, restaurant, auditorium, and temporary gallery for contemporary art. exhibition spaces are positioned on the higher levels with the permanent gallery to the east separated from the temporary gallery to the west. these spaces have been designed to accommodate comprehensive exhibitions as well as smaller capsule collections.

image © matthieu gafsou

the north façade, which faces a newly created public plaza, is clad with vertical fins that prevent direct sunlight from entering the building. ‘on the plaza, the vertical blinds’ rhythm break the massiveness of the monolith and reveal the openings,’ say the architects. ‘at night, the blinds serve as a canvas to diffuse the light coming from the museum, transforming the façade to the plaza.’

image © simon menges

image © simon menges

image © simon menges

image © simon menges

image © simon menges

image © simon menges

image © simon menges

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project info:

name: MCBA – musée cantonal des beaux-arts, lausanne
museo cantonal de bellas artes – cantonal museum of fine arts
authors: barozzi / veiga — fabrizio barozzi , alberto veiga
project leader: pieter janssens
project team execution phase: claire afarian, alicia borchardt, paola calcavecchia, marta grządziel, isabel labrador, miguel pereira vinagre, cristina porta, laura rodriguez, arnau sastre, maria ubach, cecilia vielba, nelly vitiello
project team competition phase:
 roi carrera, shin hye kwang, eleonora maccari, verena recla, 
agnieszka samsel, agnieszka suchocka
local architect:
 fruehauf henry & viladoms
project manager: pragma partenaires SA
structural engineers: ingeni SA
services engineers: chammartin&spicher SA; scherler SA; BA consulting SA
façade consultant: X-made SLP
lighting consultant: matí AG
museum expert: BOGNER.CC