© Asymptote – Hani Rashid & Lise Anne Couture. Courtesy of Archcouncil of Moscow
Asymptote Architecture has revealed renderings of their design for a new Contemporary branch of the Hermitage Museum, to be located adjacent to a new residential district in the area of the former ZIL automotive plant in Moscow. Presented at the V Saint Petersburg International Cultural Forum by Asymptote Co-founder and Design Partner Hani Rashid, the museum will house a collection of contemporary art from 20th and 21st centuries.
© Asymptote – Hani Rashid & Lise Anne Couture. Courtesy of Archcouncil of Moscow
“ZIL will turn into not just a new city district with residential and commercial real estate but will also have a museum as a center of attraction for the city residents,” said Sergey Kuznetsov, Chief Architect of Moscow.
The museum design has been separated chronologically – lower levels have been designated for art from the first half of the 20th century, while the raised-ceiling galleries on the upper floors will exhibit the contemporary collection. Public spaces will include a cafeteria, a gift shop/library, a cinema hall, a rooftop sculpture garden and a wood-clad amphitheater designed for public events.
© Asymptote – Hani Rashid & Lise Anne Couture. Courtesy of Archcouncil of Moscow
“The Museum will be a place where in some cases you can exhibit really high sculptures or hang very unusual objects of art on the ceiling, if needed. You can do whatever you like here, it’s a space for an endless experiment with perspective,” explains Rashid.
“In the wing of contemporary art with the help of the curtain one can decorate and darken some parts of the hall. Museum curators will have vast spaces in the building.”
“We sought to create a constant up and down movement inside the galleries, one can easily get lost here, and it’s a great thing. We want to leave behind a standard paradigm of a museum where its architecture dictates certain scripts. Here the architecture is symbolic but it’s predetermined by museum functions,” the architect said.
© Asymptote – Hani Rashid & Lise Anne Couture. Courtesy of Archcouncil of Moscow
© Asymptote – Hani Rashid & Lise Anne Couture. Courtesy of Archcouncil of Moscow
The external envelope will consist of a double glazed, UV-resistant facade system, which will give the building a luminous, transparent aesthetic that will transform in different atmospheric conditions. Walls and transparencies have been arranged in a dynamic composition, and will be ornamented with an abstract design.
© Asymptote – Hani Rashid & Lise Anne Couture. Courtesy of Archcouncil of Moscow
“People come to a museum to touch history, culture, that is why we thought it would be only right to saturate the Museum space with them. So it is a really wonderful idea that the cafeteria on the first floor will have an installation on Malevich’s Black Square. One can just come here for a cup of coffee, thus becoming a part of the city, a part of art,” Hani Rashid added.
The museum project is latest addition of the “Big Hermitage” project, which was seen the museum open new branches in cities worldwide, including Amsterdam, London, Barcelona, Kazan, Vyborg and Omsk.
© Asymptote – Hani Rashid & Lise Anne Couture. Courtesy of Archcouncil of Moscow
“Each branch museum of the Hermitage has its own focus, and we decided that in Moscow it will be contemporary art of the 20th -21st centuries. The concept of this branch museum was developed together with Hani Rashid,” explained Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum.
The Hermitage Modern Contemporary is expected to open to the public in 2020. Learn more about the design, and Asymptote’s residential tower in Moscow, here.
News via Archcouncil of Moscow.
Sig Nordal 