Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Museum of Contemporary Art

This is a project by SZA - Studio za arhitekturu and it is located at Zagreb, Croatia. Project's program: Contemporary Art Museum. There are eighteen images for Museum of Contemporary Art.

: © StudioHRG

Project details

Project name: Museum of Contemporary Art
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
Program: Contemporary Art Museum
Area: Site area: 14,400 m2 • Total built area: 18,000 m2
Year: Competition: 1999, 1st Prize • Construction: 2003-2009
Client: City of Zagreb • Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia
Project by: SZA - Studio za arhitekturu
Team: Author: Igor Franic • Collaborators: Bernarda Silov, Morana Vlahovic, Tajana Derencinovic Jelcic, Andreja Dodig, Petar Reic, Simona Sovic Štos, Zorana Zdjelar
Others: Contractor: Tehnika d.d. • Structure: Studio K d.o.o. • Mechanical Installations: Arhingtrade d.o.o. • Electrical Installations: Arhingtrade d.o.o. • Sewage and Water Supply: Arhingtrade d.o.o. • Fire protection: IB-inženjering Belobrajic d.o.o. • Acoustics: AVC d.o.o.

Project images

Designer's statement

Conceptual analysis:

“Franic’s project generates “its own city-planning” within the borders of the parcel and forms an ample square that slowly rises towards the large “hovering” mass of the Museum which covers the open public space.

The entire ground floor of the Museum is open to movement, conceived as an extension of the square with the main entrance, restaurant and library, each with a separate access. The glass envelope of the ground floor is not unified, but diversified, which indicates different amenities.

It is obvious that the ground floor is the place of transition between public city space and museum halls.

The entire ground floor of the Museum is open to movement, conceived as an extension of the square with the main entrance, restaurant and library, each with a separate access.

This spatial sequence is unambiguously just a preparation and a part of the scenario of movement suspense and experience of the building before entering the exhibition halls. Actually, we are still underneath the museum.

Franic formed the body of the building as a geometrically very simple solid of approximately square ground-floor plan, whose cross-section is “folded” in the form of a meander. The configuration of the exhibition space directly emerges from this cascading cross-cut, so that the museum develops in a series of linear stretches vertical to the lateral, meandering profile of the structure. The basic direction of the spaces is defined by the sequence of x-axes parallel in relation to the entrance porch, whereby their format changes with progression, i.e. translation of the floor and the ceiling within y-coordinates. These stretches show different heights and interrelations, and between them flow the terraces or the areas beneath the body of the building, so that along the y-axis exterior and interior spatial segments interchange.

The relationship of interior and exterior design shows a certain inversion of conventions through the harsh interior and sleek exterior. The aesthetics of the interior is neutral and to some extent intentionally brutal. White walls, float finish of floors and unplastered concrete of the load-bearing construction suggest that the museum building is primarily “spatial infrastructure”. However, along with this acetic approach, Franic also applies non-purist procedures: all solid surfaces of the meander’s body are frontally and underneath clad in polycarbonate plates behind which the carrier construction is visible. Polycarbonate is consequentially mounted also on the ceiling of the ground-floor interior, which unifies the hovering mass into a rounded-up whole.”

-- paragraph from X-Y-Z, text by Maroje Mrduljaš

Structure and materials:

In accordance with the requirements and the wish of achieving as flexible ground floor plan as possible, the basic load bearing structure of the building consists of a spatial skeleton structure, which in its rationality and spatial layout tries to meet all the needs of the Museum.

Reinforced concrete columns and beams set 10 and 20 metres apart, with a ceiling reinforced concrete cladding of 26 cm thickness, are the principal constructive elements. The foundation 70 cm slab underlies the building. All secondary elements of galleries and staircases are made of steel as a separate unit that influences the basic construction system.

The basic load bearing structure spacing is 10 m. This system enables simple organization of display panels, so that spaces 5 m wide can be clearly organized. On the 1st and the 3rd floor, a row of columns is left out, so that the basic construction is supported by pre-stressed reinforced concrete girders set 20 m apart. In this way, spaces up to 400 square metres of uninterrupted surface have been realized. The dimensions of columns vary, from ø 50 and ø 60 in the garage to 90/160 and 110/240 at the point of the southern and northern 10-metre cantilevered slab. In dependence on construction demands, but also on the position within the structure, the columns have variable cross-cuts, from round to rectangular. All the columns along the eastern elevation are designed with a ø 90. Depending on the span, the girders and beams also have variable dimensions. Thus there are girders of 110, 125 and 160 cm height. In accordance with the penetration of electricity and plumbing, penetration is envisaged in some of the girders in a way that meets the basic structural demands.

By utilizing particular materials, both in the exterior and the interior, public usage of the structure is enabled, as well as easy maintenance; the character of some areas is highlighted by wood, stone, PVC flooring, terrazzo tiles, concrete, epoxy coating or a metal floor grid.