Project Details
- Project Name
- Cinémathèque Suisse
- Location
-
Penthaz ,Switzerland
- Architect
- EM2N
- Client/Owner
- Swiss Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (FBL)
- Project Types
- Cultural
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 141,116 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2019
- Shared by
- Madeleine D'Angelo
- Project Status
- Built
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Paradoxically, the charm of the existing Cinémathèque lay in its simple and utilitarian appearance. The home of the national collective film memory presented itself as an unpretentious accumulation of sheds that was focussed more on contents than on packaging. The extension project accepts this starting point and makes it its own. The layout of the existing buildings which are arranged linearly alongside each other is translated by new additions and remodelling into a composite, ambivalent form of parallel buildings of different lengths. Only the end situation is differentiated by making a number of angled cuts; in this way the building acquires a face. The principle of placing buildings alongside each other is evident in the interior, too. The three main circulation routes, which are placed above one another, pass through the parallel cross-walls at right angles, allowing the sequential arrangement of the ‘individual’ buildings to be experienced. The suspended conference rooms in the two-storey entrance and exhibition hall are in turn connected with each other by windows. When looking across and through the building this produces a perspective depth while also suggesting associations to filmic processes such as montage and cutting.
While the public areas and all work places are concentrated in Penthaz I, the archive itself on the far side of the road is conceived as a purely underground storage space. In this way the functional and atmospheric side effects are restricted to an absolute minimum. Penthaz II is a kind of super-functional bunker that ensures the best possible protection for the culturally valuable artefacts. In a simple manner a kind of urban disposition is achieved that, on the one hand, reacts to the expansiveness of the nearby agricultural landscape and on the other gives Cinémathèque suisse as an institution an emphatically clear address. The new envelope of rusted steel, an industrial material that emanates a sensual quality, encases the entire complex and binds the new and the existing parts together. The gradual weathering of this natural material is a reference to the archive’s function in preserving film and gives the complex a differentiated identity of its own. The modulated, condensed roofscape composed of gently sloping, planted roofs takes up the theme of industrial production facilities or film studios.
Project Credits:
Project: Cinémathèque Suisse
Architects: EM2N. Mathias Müller, Daniel Niggli (partners), Marc Holle, Christof Zollinger (associates), Bettina Baumberger, Jean-Baptiste Joye, Roger Küng (project leaders), Ruben Daluz, Phillippe Jorisch, Yoshihiro Nagamine, Noémi Necker, Miriam Rollwa (project team, competition), Julia Berger, Stefan Berle, Laurent Chassot, Nadine Coetzee, Nicolas de Courten, Pascal Deschenaux, Melih Dilsiz, Yann Dubied, Ramona Elmiger, Amélie Fibicher, Marita Gelze de Montiel, Gregor Goldinger, Sebastian Knorr, Robert Kuijper, Andreas Lahti, Andrea Landell, Minka Ludwig, Raúl Mera, Stéphanie Morel, Klaudija Oroshi, Fabien Oulevay, Jeremias Pellaton, Bernard Radi, Adriano Reis, Tanja Schmid, Daniela Sigg, Eva-Noemi Thiele, Agata Tyszecka, Danessa Urquiola, Jonas von Wartburg, Sven Ziegler, Michael Zürcher (project team, execution)
Construction management / construction realisation: Tekhne SA, Lausanne / Aplanir sarl, Echallens
Construction consultancy: Brandenberg + Ruosch AG, Bern
Civil engineer: Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure AG, Zürich / Boss & Associés Ingénieurs Conseils SA, Ecublens
Facade planning: Basler & Hofmann AG, Zürich
Planning and coordination heating / ventilation / air-conditioning / cooling technology and sanitary: Gruenberg + Partner AG, Zürich
Electrical engineer: IBG B. Graf AG / Josef Piller SA, Givisier / Betelec SA, Villars-Sainte-Croix
Building physics: Kopitsis Bauphysik AG, Wohlen
Acoustics: Applied Acoustics GmbH, Gelterkinden
Fire protection: CR Conseils Sàrl, Oron-la-Ville
Security: Holliger Consult, Epsach
Geologist / Geotechnical engineer: De Cérenville Géotechnique, Ecublens
Traffic planning: IBV Hüsler AG, Zürich
Landscape architecture: Studio Vulkan, Zürich
Pollutant security: HPB Consulting, Zürich
Motion Design: La Boite Visual Art, Locarno / L’Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna