Photos: Shigeo Ogawa

The  Stone Sculpture Museum

TADAO ANDO on the museum’s design

 

"The Stone Sculpture Museum for the Fondation Kubach-Wilmsen in Bad Münster am Stein, Germany, is planned as an environmental museum, which takes in nature and the whole surroundings.

 

The old barn that is typical to this area will be moved to the site and used as a gallery space. The barn will be rebuilt in its original form – earth walls, wooden framework and tile roof – and stand in harmony with the landscape. A mezzanine floor and windows are newly added to the barn and transform its closed interior into a fluid space, open to nature.

 

This barn is enclosed with free-standing walls, made of exposed architectural concrete. New and old confront each other in a dynamic interplay.

 

 

 

 

Slit windows are rhythmically placed along the walls, which articulate the relation between the architecture, the sculptures, the gardens and the landscape. These walls define different levels of terraces. A reflecting pond characterizes the upper sculpture terrace.

 

The visitors will walk freely around the whole site, along the concrete walls, in the enclosed garden, around and inside the museum building. Through the dialogue of art with nature, the people will understand the history and culture of the human being, contained in the sculptural work of Wolfgang Kubach and Anna Kubach-Wilmsen. "

 

Tadao Ando, September 2005