necessity and flexible surplus

Bauhaus Museum

The design for the new Bauhaus Museum in Weimar addresses the connection between programmatics and its relevance for the function of a building. The question hereby posed is: what should be seen as primary functions of the building and what as secondary functions – spaces which, for example, would exist solely for the purpose of offering the visitor comfort and entertainment and do not directly support or relate to the primary functions. The museum’s main function is to display and store exhibits. For this purpose, a specific area and space allocation are defined that can be used permanently. In order to be able to operate these functions, a certain minimum of space and energy is required. All optional functions, such as possibly a café, a shop, a movie theater and workspace, are to be considered additional and non-essential to the running and maintaining of the primary function – the museum. The additional, i.e. optional, functions can be used either with, or separate from, the main museum.
The building is divided into two parts. The main part encompasses the primary function and is in the enclosed part of the building while the additional part integrates, and/or includes, all optional and secondary functions set on the open, unenclosed planes.