Augustinian Museum

The Augustinian Museum in Freiburg im Breisgau is home to an extensive collection of religious art, with works ranging from the Middle Ages through to the 19th century. Taking centre stage of the exhibition are the large stone sculptures and gargoyles from the Gothic Freiburg Cathedral. Frankfurt architect Christoph Mäckler was commissioned to extend the museum by remodelling the cathedral's neighbouring monastery church. The design brief was to restore the original spatial effect and to create better facilities for exhibitions. In the nave, a second set of interior walls has been added to provide structural support for the timber roof and re-divide the room. As a result, additional exhibition areas have been created in the roof truss and side galleries of the monastery church for displaying the Mediaeval treasures.

The lighting arrangement for the sculptures in the nave plays with the alternation of light and shadow using harsh contrasts. Stella projection spotlights, located in niches in the wall at the height of the second story, use framing attachments to produce clearly delimited beams of light to accentuate the exhibits alone. This directed light intensively brings out the three-dimensional detailing of the statues on the opposite side, while the clear limitation of the beams results in pleasant visual comfort for the visitors. High-pressure discharge lamps for the projection spotlights ensure the lighting is economical.

With blue wall surfaces and uniform wallwashing, the atmosphere in the side galleries has a restrained effect compared with the dramatic lighting aesthetics of the nave. The panel painting from the 11th to 15th centuries is given additional accentuation for better emphasis and more brilliance. The projection spotlights are track mounted to allow flexible positioning.

Address:
Augustinerplatz
79098 Freiburg im Breisgau
Germany
www.freiburg.de/museen/index.html

Architect:
Christoph Mäckler Architekten, Frankfurt am Main
www.chm.de

Lighting design:
Kress & Adams Atelier für Tages- und Lichtplanung, Cologne