A MUSEUM OF THE LANDSCAPE

With careful attention to the garden, the architectural and landscape design seamlessly integrates all existing trees on the site, safeguarding them while providing a captivating new experience of the topography. A new courtyard, accessible via the restaurant, not only infuses the space with natural light but also offers additional seating. The preserved tree at its center serves as a focal point, complemented by outdoor sculptures from the collection. The central landscape architectural element is the Biodiversity roof, which greens a large portion of the building envelope. This ensures that the balance of vegetated areas across the overall site is maintained despite the new construction. The Biodiversity roof is watered through rainwater collected on the sloping roof, while excess water is conveyed using gutters into the surrounding green spaces of the park, where it is allowed to infiltrate.

The roof landscape spatially maintains both the park’s green spaces and its current path network. Approaching from the park, a path leads up to the rising roof surface and back down again, referencing the nearby mountain scenery while simultaneously opening panoramic views from the roof. The additional paths within the open-space area extend the existing park pathways, using the same water-bound surface construction. The section of the new path that runs across the roof surface is adapted in color and material to match the existing paths and is executed as a solid surface on the sloped roof area.

The vegetation selection comprises low-growing perennials, grasses, and subshrubs that create a seasonally changing flowering display with a varied color palette. In the lower, east-facing section of the roof, brick seating steps create an amphitheater-like setting for smaller open-air events within the park and provide space for lingering while enjoying views of the spa park. The courtyard surrounding the defining existing tree-which is preserved and integrated into the building by the architectural design-is planted with shade-tolerant vegetation. As the contemplative centerpiece of the new museum building, this green courtyard invites visitors to linger.

THE LANDSCAPE IN THE MUSEUM

Inside, the museum’s entrance is aligned with the highest point in the park, insuring a seamless integration with the hotel entrance axis. Its main pathway invites visitors from the old town through the Löwenbrücke pedestrian bridge and the Maienfelderstrasser road. The plan is strategically conceived to cater to the museum’s programmatic requirements in creating varied and flexible spaces for both temporary and permanent exhibitions.

At the entrance, visitors are ushered into a lobby that leads to a coffee shop on the right side, which provides public access to additional seating in the courtyard. Adjacent to the lobby is a bookshop and library.

Permanent and temporary galleries are not delineated by separate wings. Instead, temporary galleries are dispersed among the permanent galleries, ensuring that visitors can still view new exhibitions while on their way to viewing the permanent works in the collection. This arrangement allows museumgoers to experience both collections simultaneously as they navigate through the various galleries.

The interior spaces transition from darkness to illumination, with some galleries featuring access to the courtyard and illuminated by natural light, while others rely on artificial lighting. Skylights are strategically positioned to accommodate the site’s northern latitude, allowing only indirect daylight to enter the galleries. Drawing inspiration from Ferdinand Holder’s landscape paintings, a long and elegant gallery is framed by panoramic views of the mountain, providing visitors with a captivating visual experience as they traverse the spaces.

AN EXAMPLARY URBAN NEIGHBOR

Drawing inspiration from traditional Swiss architecture and the site’s iconic park, the Bad Ragaz Art Museum concept is a locally rooted response that seeks to harmonize with its natural surroundings. The design extends the connection between the hotel, the sculpture park, and the mountains by merging the landscape into the building and using it as a framing device that provides breathtaking views of the mountains.

The street-facing facade mimics the traditional architecture lined across the way and provides a secondary entrance that brings visitors into the new courtyard and outdoor restaurant/café. A new courtyard, accessible via the restaurant, not only infuses the space with natural light but also offers additional seating and outdoor sculpture display. The preserved tree at its center serves as a focal point, complemented by outdoor sculptures from the collection.

Similarly, the approach from the old town leads locals to the walkable green roof path, leading to a small amphitheater that facilitates outdoor events and provides an unobstructed view of the surrounding sculptures in the garden. The path guides one naturally through the new museum landscape on one’s way to the hotel or to the baths, providing opportunities to linger and even sunbathe in the summer.

This project is a sustainable, layered, intersectional approach to design for the Bad Ragaz Art Museum. The new building is not only ecologically sustainable but sustains local architectural traditions, cultural heritage, contributes and amplifies the social life of the town.

Architecture
Mariam Issoufou Architects,

Landscape Design
Topotek 1

Renderings
ParisRender