Integrated concrete handrail detail in Christ & Gantenbein’s renovation of the Swiss National Museum in Zurich, on-going.
SUBTILITAS
fineness of texture, logic, detail; slenderness, exactness, acuteness; sharpness : precision
Christ & Gantenbein - Renovation of the Swiss National Museum in Zurich, on-going. The competition winning rehabilitation is a delicate balance between historical replication and contemporary craft. Original portions of the building that needed to be repaired or replaced are done so with new materials. A dilapidated vaulted ceiling was recast in concrete as opposed to being patched and repaired; the strategy maintains the formal properties of the historic design, yet introduces a texture which is undeniably current. New doors that were required by current fire codes were CNC milled with a repetitive pattern, abstracting the granular surfaces of the historic oak doors. Images via.
