PRESS RELEASE
GALLO-ROMAN MUSEUM
ARCHITECTURE
Alfredo De Gregorio: "Tongeren is itself a contemporary museum: you are confronted
by the past at every turn, while the contemporary is happening all around you. So the
most important task for us was to embed the museum seamlessly in its surroundings
and at the same time create a hub of urban dynamism. For the formula we looked to a
house with many entrances, a house which provides knowledge and experience,
education and relaxation, objects and stories. A space which both the passionate
scholar and the passer-by find intriguing."
Much-needed expansion / what went before
In 1994 the Province decided that the collection should be presented in an intriguing
and evocative but scientifically-based atmosphere. Thanks to the dynamic policy of the
newly installed museum staff, the museum became one of the cultural hot spots in the
province and the leading archaeological museum in Belgium. In the space of just ten
years the number of visitors rocketed from 20,000 to 150,000 a year. The museum
building could no longer accommodate that great influx of visitors in the way they had
come to expect. An extension was needed.
In 2002 the provincial authorities purchased several buildings next to the museum and
launched an international competition which required architects to submit "a design
sketch to communicate ideas both for the new build part and the conversion of the
existing volume".
Alfredo De Gregorio at the time of the competition: “For us the competition phase is all
about probing the soul of Tongeren, both the historical and the contemporary city; it is
about understanding the role of the museum in the urban fabric and getting to grips
with archaeological considerations and current museum philosophy. All this is
important if we are to generate a suitable concept for the museum in which museum
and city merge into one world of today and yesterday. We have therefore decided just
to present a working method, a train of thought, and not to go for an immediate
representation. We don't want architectural drawings to overshadow and inhibit
thinking about the task of creating 'an archaeological museum in the twenty-first
century'.”
Eventually the jury chose a methodology, a consultative model and not a prefabricated image - and in our competition-oriented society this is quite something.
Architectural principles
Once the architects had been appointed, they sat down with the museum team and
once again called everything into question: the routing, the relationship of the
museum with its immediate surroundings and with the city, the technical conditions
and limitations, the expression of the architectural elements, the programme, the
importance of a museum visit as an 'experience', the budget, etc. It soon transpired
that the initial programme was too ambitious, the requested surfaces would occupy too
much urban space and the related volume could not be achieved within the available
budget. After months of consultation, at the suggestion of the designer it was decided
that the programme should be scaled down, but not at the expense of quality.
A question of urban healing
We see architecture and urban development as a question of healing. The place must
somehow be 'better' as a result of our intervention. The crucial question is one of love:
will the people accept the building, will they embrace it? So the starting point is
consultation rather than a design, a quest rather than a ready-made solution. For
months we talked about issues we regard as essential: How can the visitor be involved
rather than just a spectator? What lasting effect will the museum have on the visitor,
and on the city? And because it is a public building: will the community get a good
return for the allocated budget?’
There was hardly any reference to the actual form the museum would take at this
stage. In that 'parturition period' (a building must be born) everything was discussed,
except its physical appearance.
When months later we did present the design, it was exactly what everyone was
expecting. We see that as a compliment!
The urban walk
Every city, every place has its individuality. This is characterized by a specific rhythm
of buildings and open spaces. In Tongeren the large and the small, the monument and
the garage stand side by side. That duality is typical. The city radiates a sort of
brutalism and nonchalance, a rural naturalness. This is no place for frills and
decoration, no place for ‘lone rangers’. Tongeren is a city-connected-to-the-earth:
green, ecological, no-nonsense, simple in form and volumes, powerful, mysterious and
overwhelmingly ‘feminine’. Integration is crucial and the use of materials plays a very
important part in achieving this. We always choose materials which belong with the
city and which can age with it.
The new museum reinstates the pathway round the Basilica by means of a new urban
walk. After long consultation, the Allée Verte passageway, to which the people of
Tongeren have a great emotional attachment, was moved. This made the internal
circulation much more logical and also opened up the path right round the Basilica.
The people of Tongeren have never seen the back of their basilica before! Its silence
is impressive, making it an ideal place to create a new museum square, where of
course the entrance is.
Despite its size, the new volume sits unobtrusively in the urban fabric of Grote Markt,
Basilica, Vrijthof, Roman tower and city wall, Allée Verte, Kielenstraat, etc. The visitor
'discovers' the museum by means of a time-honoured principle: narrow streets,
squares, short enticing sightlines and so forth.
The public space around the building plays a crucial role: the greenery softens and
sooths, it refers to the rural tradition. A water feature is planned (at a later stage) as
part of the outside scheme. Water links nature to culture: the watercourse in the lower
city on the one hand, and on the other the water which Roman engineering - the
aqueduct – brought into the upper city.
The museum square and the entrance hall merge, the overhang acting as a threshold
between the two.
Sunken patios suggest underground spaces and call to mind the idea of 'archaeology'.
Together with the narrow openings in the volume they make the museum porous and
accessible.
The texture of the city
Tongeren's identity requires sober, no-nonsense buildings with little added detailing.
A single material, ceppo, is used as cladding to striking effect. This mouse-grey, Italian
natural stone stills the building; from closer to the material tells a colourful story of
stones and cobblestones, time and underground. And the cobblestones in the ceppo
are a wonderful echo of the many flint stones in the walls of the Basilica.
The interior of the museum acquires its earthy texture from the sandblasted concrete
walls (with the imperfection but also the beauty of natural stone), rustic metals, natural
stone floors and recycled teak.
The museum as a warehouse
If the existing museum was conceived as a technical box, the new museum follows the
logic of an urban warehouse with all the connotations that has: the strong, quiet
volumes, the hayloft, the rural, the cellar, but also the intimate antechamber, the
private collection, the glory-hole.
Like the warehouse, the museum contains a collection of accumulated objects which
are mysterious and intriguing because of the story behind their seemingly accidental
coexistence in their new surroundings.
The museum spaces are deliberately sober, turned in on themselves. Consequently,
the visitor forgets his surroundings and immerses himself in the world of the object and
the archaeology. The limited incidence of light adds to the atmosphere and makes the
setting ideal for narrative multimedia installations, cinematic and atmospheric
evocations. Despite the sober outside volume, impressive spaces have been created
inside, inviting exploration, like a mysterious small town. There are no big sightlines,
but almost everywhere fragmented views of the Basilica. The building invites visitors to
lose themselves in a feminine sort of way and at the same time it exudes an intensity
which invokes silence.
Much of the museum is underground, thereby keeping the urban volume above
ground to a minimum. The sunken patios bring filtered daylight and create views of the
surrounding area. They put one in mind of archaeological excavations.
A modest budget
The museum has been built at a very low cost per square meter: €655 /m², excluding
VAT, particularly when compared to other international museums which average about
€4,200 /m². (An apartment building currently requires a budget of approx. €850/m².)
We regard keeping a close eye on the budget not just as a professional point of
honour, but also as a social mission, particularly when it comes to public buildings. Do
a lot with a little, is the message.
And in the case of the PGRM that has worked extremely well.
The museum in figures
* Floor areas
original floor area (thorough renovation)
extension (new build)
total floor area
permanent collection
temporary exhibitions
total exhibition floor space
museum café + auditorium
6,920 m²
5,680 m²
12,600 m²
2,540 m²
1,320 m²
3,860 m²
875 m²
* Exhibits
2,500 items
* Budgets (excluding VAT and fees)
- building
basic budget (as at March 2006)
indexation
basic budget to date
€7,306,000
€941,000
€8,247,000
or €655/m²
specialist services as at March 2006
€924,000
(external factors such as archaeological excavations, ground clearance, …)
indexation
€119,000
specialist services to date
€1,043,000
total budget (as at March 2006)
indexation
total budget to date
€8,230,000
€1,060,000
€9,290,000
or 737/m²
- museum set/exhibition display
fixtures and building-related components
films and interactive multimedia
replicas
maquettes
photographs, drawings and texts
total
€1,396,000
€670,000
€183,000
€102,000
€173,000
€2,524,000
- TOTAL (sums to date, incl. indexation)
€11,814,000
Execution
* architects appointed:
commencement of building work:
exhibition designer appointed:
end of building work:
* building:
- architecture
- engineers
- main contractor
* exhibition set:
* team principal:
- design
- contractor
- member of Executive
- coordination
- museum staff under the direction of
March 2004
May 2006
February 2007
April 2009
De Gregorio & Partners
Technum
THV Reynders B&I /
Antwerpse Bouwwerken/
Niek Kortekaas
De Gregorio & Partners
Reynders Interieur
Gilbert Van Baelen
Jean-Pierre Dewael
Carmen Willems