Messner Mountain Museum

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE MUSEUM:

Reinhold Messner’s 6th and last MMM-Museum opens on July 24th, 2015. ”The theme is rock and the great faces; the original, traditional mountain climbing is to rise again here. The particular thing about this museum is the combination of the location, the view, and the architecture,” explained Messner. With the realization of this sixth museum, Messner draws to a close the “Messner Mountain Museum” project, which he himself calls his “fifteenth 8,000 meter peak”.

This project is the fruit of an extraordinary collaboration between three authorities, each of which is at the top of their respective specialized areas: Reinhold Messner as the eminent source of the history of traditional mountaineering, Skirama Kronplatz in regards to mountain tourism with outstanding infrastructures and last but not least Zaha Hadid, the world star of contemporary architecture.

The project represents an added value not only for the Kronplatz-Plan de Corones Ski Mountain but also for the surrounding communities. Skirama Kronplatz, making constant efforts to keep the Kronplatz Ski Mountain attractive in both winter- and summertime, has called the project a milestone in the history of ski lift facilities: “This project,” explains President Matthias Prugger, “which is being implemented together with Zaha Hadid, takes us into a higher league. The Kronplatz, South TyrolSüdtirol's number one ski mountain, demonstrates once again that visions are not only put down on paper, but are also realized.”

The architecture is unique. Walls, ceilings, and also architectural elements that are visible from the outside, such as the entry area, the panorama terrace and the panorama windows, are being encased with special ready-made concrete sections through the use of specially provided metal subconstructions.

The museum is laid out to a large extent underground on several levels, which is why at 1,000 square meters (11,000 square feet) construction is taking place on a comparatively small footprint. But 4,000 cubic meters (140,000 cubic feet) of earth have been moved. Thanks to this method, the museum keeps a constant temperature level in both summer and winter and thus is energy-efficient. The topmost level houses the entry area with the cashiers, a small museum shop, and the check room along with lockers. From there, stairways lead like waterfalls over three exhibition levels all the way to the bottom. A central exhibition space as the main focus of the museum offers room for larger exhibits and presentations.

At the lowest floor, visitors on their tour pass by glass-enclosed viewing windows and arrive at a terrace that is nearly 40 square meters (430 square feet), from which they are able to enjoy a lovely 240° panorama from the Zillertal Alps to the Ortles-Ortler to the Dolomites. In this way, a reference is created between the mountain world outside and the theme of the museum, the great faces as the royal discipline of mountaineering. There is also a cinema with around twenty seats.