Liaunig Museum, Carinthia, Austria by Querkraft
October 14th, 2008 - Posted in Architecture Design
The Museum Liaunig near Neuhaus/Suha in Carinthia, Austria was completed by Austrian architect Querkraft. The building which opened last week, houses contemporary art and gold objects collected by industrialist and art collector Herbert W. Liaunig.
Built out of glass, concrete and sheet metal, the new museum takes the form of an outstretched rectangular container buried into the land and jutting out of its hillside site on two sides like a work of land art. The main body of the Museum Liaunig cuts through a densely wooded, steep-sided embankment, projecting out on both ends, with only a small part of the outstretched building visible. Rather than removing the soil, excavated ground is used to remodel the site.
At one end the building cantilevers thirty meters out over the steep site, making it clearly visible to approaching visitors. At the opposite end there is an unparalleled view of the landscape and the river Drau, seventy meters below. The museum entrance zone is orientated toward both the center of Neuhaus and the nearby historical castle, owned by the museum’s patron.
The substantial viewing storage depot is one of the main areas of the museum. Stretching the entire length of the gently sloping approach to the main exhibition hall, visitors are accompanied by this “wine cellar of art”. This underground volume offers the possibility to organize a variety of exhibitions by virtue of the flexible screens and lighting arrangements.
The core of the building is a 160 meter long exhibition hall covered by a curved translucent skin, that lets in daylight. The 13 meter wide, 7 meter tall hall, with protected terraces at each end, is organized with mobile exhibition panels.
The graphic collection is located in a cone shaped room adjacent the ramped entrance. The gold collection is a separate chamber connected by a small corridor. Set into the hill the building benefits from the temperate environment. A geothermal heat pump utilizes the constant ground temperature. Daylight substitutes artificial light as much as possible.
Architects: Querkraft – Jakob Dunkl, Gerd Erhartt, Peter Sapp
Location: Neuhaus, Carinthia, Austria
Project Architect: Erwin Stättner
Project team: Sandra Denk, Dominique Dinies, Vera Kittler, Janine Hochrieser, Jan Geldermann, Charlotte Lieske, Tobias Colz, Petra Meisenbichler, Dana Rakova
Client: dkfm herbert liaunig
Project year: 2006
Construction year: 2007-2008
Constructed area: 4,810 sqm
General Contractor: werkstatt wien, vienna
Structural Engineering: werkraum wien ingenieure, project management: jan umlauf, vienna
Photographs: Lisa Rastl
