Museum of World Culture - Gothenburg, Sweden
2004
Brisac Gonzalez Architects


© Hélène Binet

Summary
A new major national museum including exhibition galleries, university research centre, library, 200-person auditorium and restaurant.

Client
Statens Fastighetsverk (National property board – Ministry of Finance)

Project value
£26m

Scope
First prize - Open international competition in two stages
Scheme design
Detail design
Tender documents
Site supervision

Date
1999

Completion Date
December 2004

Surface are
10 950 m² new construction


© Hélène Binet

Description
The site is situated at the foot of a hill, at the southeastern edge of central Gothenburg. It is directly adjacent to Sweden’s most visited tourist attraction, the Liseberg Amusement Park.

The museum is a new exhibition platform for the collections of the Folkens Museum Etnografiska, the Mediterranean Museum and the East Asian Museum, all presently situated in Stockholm together with the Ethnographic Museum in Gothenburg. The new building has an auditorium, a research center, a library, restaurant and administrative offices. The building will also serve as a new forum for international and local events.



The building is a simple and compact container wherein the legacy of mankind and the contemporary are united. The strategy consists of a clearly marked difference between a solid west-side containing the gallery spaces along the street and an open east-side toward the hill where public activities take place. The latter will on the one hand reveal the museum’s rich interior to the 3 million people who visit the Liseberg Park annually, while on the other it will allow the museum’s visitors to experience the exterior landscape from a variety of different vantage points.
Between the solid west and the open east is a canyon-like zone containing the building services. The public circulation weaves its way through the three elements. As one goes up the building, the elements which were seen from below are gradually perceived from above, creating a sequence of reference points throughout the building with alternating views of the hill, atrium and museum.

Museum of World Culture Gothenburg - images + text from Brisac Gonzalez Architects



Museum of World Culture architects : Brisac Gonzalez

Swedish Architecture



Museum of World Culture : RIBA Awards 2005

Swedish building : Halmstad Library



World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe

Comments / photos for the Museum of World Culture, Sweden page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk

Gothenburg Museum of World Culture : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt