Lucent villas – an extension to the Weltkulturen Museum – situated within the Metzler Park in Frankfurt, Germany. The museum park is important being the only public green space south of the river Main, it connects the Museum Angewandte Kunst with the Museum der Weltkulturen, and serves as a passageway to the Main for the residents of the Sachsenhausen district. The remit was to breathe new life into its collection through a programme of exhibitions and events. It is considered an important communal hub and hosts many events including the Embankment festival. The Museum program required a large building which potentially could remove a large portion of the park which can when built on be lost forever to development. A site sensitive approach formed the central basis for the design concept. The main part of the museum is located underground and where above ground space was necessary this would be provided within pavilions, minimalist dematerialized transparent villas having minimal visual impact.
Axial pathways cross the park, providing purpose and focused movement and are a key part of the landscape strategy. The park is surrounded by large villas and urban blocks which provide the enclosure to the park. The Museum is organized around a sunken courtyard, access is from an Entrance Pavilion.
The pavilion is expressed as a lightweight transparent structure. You transition through the ground plane of the park to access the Museum. The materiality abruptly changes at this point from the lightweight reflective metal cladding and transparent glass to an exposed heavyweight concrete structure. The differing architectural language accentuates the transition from the natural world (in present time) to a journey into the past. The stair appears carved from the earth with thick flank walls as you rise this dissolve, and the enclosure becomes glazed. A Massive portico signals the entrance to the exhibitions. The luminous glass pavilions dissolve into the park landscape, creating a seamless transition from interior to exterior spaces.
Gallery
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