#Museum for the presentation of the Brothers Grimm’s works
The design translates the historical and topographical features of the surrounding park into a continuous open space and invites visitors to explore the exhibitions at their own pace.
Typology museum Location Kassel Construction Volume GFA 6,000m² incl. roof area, GV 24,400m³ Client documenta Stadt Kassel Cooperation kadawittfeldarchitektur (architecture) Holzer Kobler Architekturen (exhibition design) und Hürlimann Lepp (curatorial concept) Competition 2nd prize 2011; VOF procedure 2012, 1st prize Awards Bau des Jahres 2015 – german architects, Polis Award 2016, Nike BDA 2016 – shortlist , Deutscher Städtebaupreis 2016, DAM Preis 2017 – finalist, BDA Hessen Simon-Louis-du-Ry-Plakette 2018
#Museum for the presentation of the Brothers Grimm’s works
The design translates the historical and topographical features of the surrounding park into a continuous open space and invites visitors to explore the exhibitions at their own pace.
The Brothers Grimm Museum, GRIMMWELT Kassel, is located in a picturesque park on the slope of an area called Weinberg close to Kassel city centre where it blends into the gently undulating landscape. Old stone steps, wall fragments, pergolas, planted terraces and lush vegetation contribute towards the special atmosphere of the park. The new museum continues the topography of the surroundings in an accessible roof landscape and thus provides the park with an open stairway that leads up to a terrace with a view across Kassel.
This design leads to a split-level arrangement in the interior. The tiered space is arranged around a central introductory hall presenting the various key subjects of the exhibition in a fascinating dialogue. Visitors experience a place with diverse atmosphere and one that focusses on German linguistics as well as the collection of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales. The foyer with a reception desk, a shop and waiting area is a long space stretching the full depth of the building. It ends in a light café with a panorama of Kassel’s Karlsaue and the southern part of the city.
The building protrudes from the slope like a further rampart and literally invites visitors to explore and clamber the broad and slightly tapered stairway embedded in the southern facade that leads up to the roof.
The remnants of a stairway and a wellhead are a reminder of the so-called Henschel Haus, which was destroyed by an air raid in 1945 and now functions as the position for the museum.
The so-called Henschel House, which was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1945.
The ups and downs of paths through the terraced park, the stairways and alternating levels are continued inside – in a sense, it is a building designed to persist with its environment and not only in it.
The foyer is high and reaches the full depth of the building ending in floor-level windows that open up to the panorama.
The introductory room spans four levels. This is where visitors start to understand the impact the terraced structure has on the interior’s arrangement: there are no conventionally stacked levels, but staggered semi-storeys designed according to the split-level principle.
Video published on 14. July 2017 by GRIMMWELT Kassel
