Temporary Exhibition Gallery. Archaeologische Staatssammlung München by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos. Photograph by Roland Halbe.
Project description by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos
Built between 1970 and 1975, the Archaeologische Staatssammlung stands as one of the most prominent examples of new museum architecture in Germany at that time. Six cubic volumes dominate the building's appearance facing Englischer Garten, where the use of corten steel, then a relatively unknown material, became the distinctive hallmark and image of the museum.
After more than four decades, the passage of time necessitated a significant transformation, an extension of exhibition spaces, and a complete update of the museum in its functional and technical aspects. The project by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, conscious of both the architectural quality of the existing building and the environmental reasons favoring the rehabilitation of existing structures rather than their demolition, is the result of a patient and precise process within the constraints of the original project, guided by its own geometric, construction, and spatial laws.
Temporary Exhibition Gallery. Archaeologische Staatssammlung München by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos. Photograph by Roland Halbe.
The museum has been restored while preserving its most prominent architectural elements. The new additions primarily affect the entrance, the insertion of a wide public staircase, the expansion of administrative and conservation areas, and the construction of a large underground exhibition hall completely free of supports, covered with an exposed concrete structure that relates to the orthogonal geometry of the original project.
A series of perimeter skylights, emerging from ground level, delineate a children's play area for the adjacent Kindergarten, thematically conceived as a small archaeological garden. Following the careful renovation and expansion works, the new ASM is a completely renovated museum, where each of its spaces has been transformed to varying degrees of intensity, aware that architecture finds its freedom in working within the limits imposed by the original building itself.
Fuensanta Nieto (Madrid 1957) and Enrique Sobejano (Madrid 1957), are graduated architects by the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM) and Master of Science in Building Design por la Graduate School of Architecture and Planning (GSAPP), Columbia University, New York (USA). Are partners of the office Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, with headquarters in Madrid and Berlín.
Enrique Sobejano is Design Professor at the Universität der Künste Berlin (Germany) and Fuensanta Nieto Fuensanta is an Design Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the Universidad Europea de Madrid. Both have been guest professors and lecturers at various universities and institutions within and outside Spain. From 1986 to 1991 was Director of ARQUITECTURA magazine, of Official College of Architects of Madrid.
Sobejano Nieto's work has been published in numerous magazines and books in Spanish and international, such as Casabella, METALOCUS, The Sketch, Architectural Review, Domus, Architectural Record, Detail, A + U, etc, and has been exhibited, among other places, Venice Biennale (2000, 2002, 2006) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York (2006). They have received the National Award for Restoration of the Ministry of Culture (2008), the Nike Prize BDA (Bund Deutscher Architekten) (2010) and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2010).
Among his recent works include Madinat al Zahra Museum (Córdoba), Moritzburg (Germany), Colegio de San Gregorio (Valladolid) and the Conference Centres of Mérida and Zaragoza.
NIETO SOBEJANO ARQUITECTOS: http://www.nietosobejano.com
