Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart
Aedes, together with DaimlerChrysler Immobilien (DCI), presents the results of the architectural competition for the new Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim.
The competition was decided in Stuttgart in January 2002. The museum is scheduled for completion in 2006. The costs for the building amount to approx. € 60 million. The revision of the winning design is currently in progress. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2003.
Eight European architectural offices and one each from the USA and Asia were invited to participate in the architectural competition. The subject of the competition was an area of approx. 15,000 square metres between the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium, the Untertürkheim plant and the Neckar River. The competition had two components: Firstly, a realisation design for the new Mercedes-Benz brand centre envisaged in the medium term, the construction of which has not yet been decided.
The competition winner was the entry by the Dutch office UN Studio van berkel & bos. The office is one of the most important representatives of progressive contemporary Dutch architecture. Its unconventional, computer-inspired formal language and innovative conceptual approaches are characteristic.
The second prize went to the Japanese office Sejima + Nishizawa / SANAA, the third to Angélil Graham Pfenninger Scholl from Zurich/Los Angeles. The design by architects Lederer, Ragnarsdóttir, Oei / Stuttgart was shortlisted. Other participants were Asymptote / New York, Alberto Campo Baeza / Madrid, BM+P Beucker Maschlanka + Partner / Düsseldorf, Kollhoff und Timmermann / Berlin, Müller o Djordjevic-Müller / Stuttgart and Schneider + Schumacher / Frankfurt and Stuttgart.
The exhibition shows the designs of all participants in models and drawings. The works of the 10 international architectural offices provide a fascinating insight into the current architectural scene.
The jury, chaired by Prof. Max Bächer (Darmstadt), chose the design by UN Studio because it offered the most convincing solution for the overall ensemble of the new museum and the future new Mercedes-Benz brand centre. Between the museum and the brand centre, a large event area will be created with a view of the Stuttgart-Untertürkheim plant, the plant's driveway and the Neckar river. For the museum itself, the design by UN Studio envisages a double helix that allows visitors an exciting and compact path through the building from top to bottom over six levels through the exhibition. The access structure allows an individual and flexible visit to the museum. The basic idea of UN Studio's design is to offer the visitor two parallel path systems, one through the "Scenes Myth Mercedes", one through the "Show Collections". The resulting double helix determines the interior and exterior appearance of the building. Six levels are grouped around a central air space, twisted against each other, consisting of an inwardly open area for the "Mercedes Myth Scenes" and an outwardly open area for the exhibition collection. The areas are interconnected so that it is possible to switch between the two access systems at any time. Visitors are taken to the top level by lift; the ride also serves as a pre-show for the exhibition. After the "Invention of the Automobile", the two path systems begin, leading downwards via ramps. The path ends on the exhibition level "Races and Records" and "Fascination of Technology". "The new Mercedes-Benz Museum is not intended to be an exhibition in the conventional sense, but a forum for actively communicating the tradition and origins of the Mercedes-Benz brand. As such, the museum serves as a "heritage centre" for the communication of brand values such as safety, comfort, reliability, quality and lasting value," says Prof. Jürgen Hubbert, Member of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG, Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars and Smart division. The car museum is a unique architectural project in the more than 100-year history of the automobile. The unmistakable architecture by UN Studio, Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos makes the new Mercedes-Benz Museum a "landmark". It is being realised by the group's real estate subsidiary, DaimlerChrysler Immobilien (DCI) GmbH, which planned, built and leased the Potsdamer Platz project between 1993 and 1999.
Speakers at the opening:
Dr. Ahlbrecht, DaimlerChrysler Immobilien, Berlin
Max-Gerrit von Pein, DC, Stuttgart
Max Bächer, Chairman of the Jury, Darmstadt
Kristin Feireiss, Aedes, Berlin
Ben van Berkel, UN Studio, Amsterdam
