ZENTRUM PAUL KLEE
Architecture | June 25, 2022 |
Image courtesy of RPBW and Serge Drouin
Zentrum Paul KleeLocation: Bern, SwitzerlandStatus: Completed
The complex nature of the shapes and articulations of the body of work of German-Swiss artist Paul Klee is reflected in the architecture of the Zentrum. The museum is part and parcel of the rolling hills and blends in with the natural landscape of the countryside outside of Bern. Its curved roof made of long steel beams welded together one by one, houses one of the most extensive monographic collections in the world.
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
The museum was commissioned by the artist’s heirs and was the fruit of the generosity of arts patron Maurice E. Müller. Built to house over 4,000 of Paul Klee’s works of art under a single roof, the Zentrum is located in the eastern outskirts of Bern, an area marked on one side by the curve of a motorway and on the other by the distant profile of the Alps. One of the inspirations for the project’s design was the morphology of the region, its vast expanse of hills and cultivated fields.
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
The architecture of the Zentrum was conceived as a gentle wave contouring the land. It is barely visible from a distance, the curvature of the structure creating three artificial hills containing the exhibition space, a concert hall, a conference centre and a centre for the study, research and promotion of Klee’s works, as well as an interactive museum for children known as Creaviva, which also organises workshops on topics revolving around art.
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
If the artistic themes encompassed by the museum reflect the multidisciplinary talent of the German-Swiss Klee – an artist and teacher with close ties to music and poetry – the design of the building and the physiognomy of its space interpret his passion for harmony of form and the proportions of nature.
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
From a topographical point of view, the Zentrum project is an enlargement of the scale of the land, its space and peaceful silence. The tranquility here is not just acoustic, but visual as well, a fundamental goal of this structure.
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
The three rolling ‘hills’ are connected by a covered pathway that runs along the entire length of the western façade. Because of the complex geometric curvature of each piece of the undulating roof covering the structure, the steel beams were individually hand-welded. The resulting complex sculpture appears to sew the landscape together and flow alongside the cultivated fields that surround it.
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
The steel and glass facade of the building faces west and is equipped with shading devices in textile, partially fixed and partially motorized, which filter natural light into the interior. For Klee’s watercolors, canvases and drawings to be properly preserved, they require a luminosity of between 50 and 100 lux, so artificial light is filtered onto them through white screens.
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Image courtesy of RPBW and Enrico Cano
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
Image courtesy of RPBW and Enrico Cano
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
Image courtesy of RPBW and Michel Denancé
Image courtesy of RPBW
Image courtesy of RPBW
Image courtesy of RPBW
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Paul Klee Paintings
Paul Klee (December 18, 1879 – June 29, 1940) was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland. Klee is regarded as both a Swiss and German painter. His greatly unique style was influenced by art movements such as surrealism, cubism, and expressionism. Learn more »
Paintings by Paul Klee in Chronological Order
| Rising Sun, 1907 | Apparatus for the Magnetic Treatment of Plants, 1908 | In the box , 1908 |
| Colour Shapes, 1914 | Hamamet, 1914 | Hammamet with mosque, 1914 |
| Red and White Domes, 1914 | Remembrance of a Garden, 1914 | Windows and palm trees , 1914 |
| In the Style of Kairouan, 1914 | Hairdryer in Marc”s Garden, 1915 | Side Panels for “Anatomy of Aphrodite”, 1915 |
| Death for the Idea, 1915 | Cacodemonic, 1916 | Pious northern landscape, 1917 |
| The Chapel , 1917 | With the Egg, 1917 | City of Churches, 1918 |
| Enlightenment of two Sectie , 1918 | Flower myth, 1918 | Once Emerged from the Gray of Night, 1918 |
| Two country houses, 1918 | A pressure of Tegernsee , 1919 | Asian entertainers , 1919 |
| Cosmic Composition, 1919 | Full moon, 1919 | Little Tree Amid Shrubbery, 1919 |
| Southern (Tunisian) gardens, 1919 | Still Life with Thistle Bloom, 1919 | Summer houses, 1919 |
| Swamp legend, 1919 | Villa R, 1919 | With the Setting Sun, 1919 |
| Bad band, 1920 | Before the snow, 1920 | Destroyed place, 1920 |
| Miraculous Landing , 1920 | New Angel, 1920 | Park , 1920 |
| Rose garden, 1920 | The Lamb, 1920 | Veil Dance, 1920 |
| A young ladys adventure, 1921 | Add in red , 1921 | Bird Wandering Off, 1921 |
| City Picture with Red and Green Accents, 1921 | Crystal, 1921 | Diana in the Autumn Wind, 1921 |
| Dream City, 1921 | Ravaged land, 1921 | Revolving House, 1921 |
| Six species, 1921 | Southern gardens, 1921 | The Saint of Inner Light, 1921 |
| Transparent in perspective Grooved , 1921 | Tropical twilight, 1921 | Witch scene , 1921 |
| Women”s Pavilion, 1921 | Analysis of diverse perversities, 1922 | Growth of the night plants, 1922 |
| Red Balloon, 1922 | Senecio, 1922 | Stage Landscape, 1922 |
| The messenger of autumn, 1922 | Wall Painting from the Temple of Longing, 1922 | Battle scene from the comic fantastic opera “The Seafarer”, 1923 |
| Before the Blitz, 1923 | Landscape with Sunset, 1923 | Landscape with Yellow Birds, 1923 |
| Puppet theater , 1923 | Rising Star , 1923 | Rope dancer , 1923 |
| Seventeen , 1923 | Station L 112, 1923 | The singer L as Fioridigli, 1923 |
| Botanical Theater, 1924 | Pierrot Lunaire , 1924 | Possessed girl , 1924 |
| Structural II, 1924 | Fairy tale of the Dwarf, 1925 | Groynes, 1925 |
| Portrait of a Man , 1925 | Small Landscape with the village church, 1925 | Tale of Hoffmann, 1925 |
| The Goldfish, 1925 | The Mask with the Little Flag, 1925 | Aroundfish, 1926 |
| Place signs, 1926 | Reconstructing, 1926 | The column, 1926 |
| Black Knight, 1927 | Flora on sand, 1927 | Part of G, 1927 |
| Pastoral (Rhythms), 1927 | Women in their Sunday best , 1928 | Fire evening, 1929 |
| Highway and byways, 1929 | In the current six thresholds, 1929 | Main path and byways , 1929 |
| Monument, 1929 | Strong Dream, 1929 | The place of the twins, 1929 |
| Fruits on Red, 1930 | Likeness in the bower, 1930 | Refuge, 1930 |
| Rhythmic (Rythmical) , 1930 | Siblings , 1930 | Castle Garden, 1931 |
| Still Life with Dove, 1931 | The last of the mercenaries, 1931 | The Light and So Much Else, 1931 |
| Promenade in the Orient, 1932 | Ad Parnassum, 1932 | Fire, Full Moon, 1933 |
| The Future Man, 1933 | Struck from the List, 1933 | Coming to bloom, 1934 |
| Mountain Village (Autumnal), 1934 | Sparse foliage , 1934 | At the Core, 1935 |
| Evening shows, 1935 | After the floods, 1936 | A kind of cat , 1937 |
| Boats in the Flood , 1937 | Characters in yellow, 1937 | Harbour with sailing ships, 1937 |
| Legend of the Nile, 1937 | Revolution of the Viaduct, 1937 | A gate, 1938 |
| A swarming , 1938 | A woman for Gods , 1938 | Contemplation, 1938 |
| Forest Witch, 1938 | Heroic Fiddling, 1938 | Heroic Roses, 1938 |
| Insula Dulcamara, 1921-1838 | Magdalena before the conversion , 1938 | Park Bei Lu, 1938 |
| Park of idols, 1938 | Red waistcoat, 1938 | The lover , 1938 |
| The vase , 1938 | WI (In Memoriam), 1938 | An allegory of propaganda, 1939 |
| Angel Still Feminine, 1939 | Blue bird pumpkin, 1939 | Error on green, 1939 |
| Flowers in Stone, 1939 | Head of a child , 1939 | Historic ground, 1939 |
| Love Song by the New Moon, 1939 | Oriental Garden, 1939 | The rumors , 1939 |
| This flower wishes to fade, 1939 | After annealing , 1940 | Captive, 1940 |
| Child and aunt, 1940 | Chinese porcelain, 1940 | Chosen Site, 1940 |
| Clouds over Bor, 1940 | Death and fire, 1940 | Flora on rocks Sun, 1940 |
| Garden Figure , 1940 | Gauze , 1940 | Glass Facade, 1940 |
| Halme, 1940 | Hoffmanneske scene, 1940 | Mess of fish , 1940 |
| Mumon drunk falls into the chair , 1940 | The Travelling Circus, c.1940 | Untitled (Still life), 1940 |
| Woman in Peasant Dress, 1940 | Bandit”s head | Cat and Bird |
| Cote de provence | Hammamet | Hesitation |
| In the Quarry | Phenix | Small room in Venice |
