Caves of Haugar
Haugar kunstmuseum
Collaboration
Oskar Aronsen
Our goal for this task was to give Haugar Kunstmuseum a public presence in the city of Tønsberg. We also aimed to give the museum an identity, which could further expand its reputation and numbers of visitors on a regional, national and international level.
Beneath the museum exists a vast network of caves. These caves provide a possibility of expanding the museum without touching the listed facades drawn by Bjercke and Eliassen. The caves themselves also give the museum an identity which could strengthen its position as an art institution. The project provides the museum with a new public entrance that connects to the city centre of Tønsberg.
Our intervention is a dialogue between the existing caves and the technical requirements for a functioning museum. As well as a dialogue between an existing building and a new addition. Our approach was to create characteristic spaces that could intrigue a relationship between art and space.
Today Haugar lacks a direct connection to the city. Despite its central placement, the building on the top of the hill is almost invisible from street level. The museum staff also reports that visitors struggle to find a way up to the museum. In our proposition the entrance to the museum is moved to Carl E. Paulsens plass, in connection to the shopping centre and in short proximity to the railway station. Entering the museum the visitor is met by a cafe and a lobby. The entrance is excavated from the hill side completing the geometry of the square in front. The museum and cafe makes a public facade towards the square. By adding a public stair outside the museum we create a public seating area in the busy part of Tønsberg. Together, the cafe/lobby and the square create a seamless transition from the city into the museum.
The existing caves have a spatial and material quality that we wanted to preserve throughout our interventions. Where the caves today consist of exposed rock, we aimed to preserve its quality through minimal intervention. However most artworks are in need of a climatically stable space. The caves provide a stable climate in terms of temperature and humidity, but not in terms of water leakage. Where there are existing structures we added climatically sealed exhibition spaces to preserve the artworks. Our intervention is a dialogue between the existing caves and the technical requirements for a functioning museum. Our approach was to create characteristic spaces that could intrigue a relationship between art and space.
The path throughout the caves ends in a new large exhibition space dug down beneath the courtyard of Haugar. The space is provided with light diffused through glass bricks connecting the space to the courtyard above. Leaving this exhibition space a stairwell takes the visitor up to the basement of the old building. While walking the stairs the visitor is finally introduced to the old building. The foundations of Haugar appear and the visitor can have a look up at the old facades before entering the existing building. The original drawings of Bjercke and Eliassen include an outside stairwell leading down to the basement. In our proposal the connection from the caves to Haugar is inspired by the historical drawings of the architects.
Entering Haugar the visitor is introduced to the permanent exhibition of the museum. From here the visitor can explore the permanent exhibition on different floors. However, a frequent visitor can go straight to the restaurant or the museum shop.
In our proposal the existing building is reorganized. The only exhibition space provided hosts the permanent exhibition. The rest of the building is used for a restaurant, a museum shop, workshops, and office spaces.
