Lucerne City Archives
competition, 5th prize, 2011
The new City Archives are fitted as a detached building into the public parks and represent a continuation of modernist urban planning in Ruopigen.
The design and the choice of façade materials refer to the function of the building as an archive. The alternatively concave and convex curvatures of the superimposed floors recall stacked books. The massive, monolithic façade visually emphasizes the durability of the archive. Besides, the thick external walls made of insulating concrete are used as a thermal mass to help regulate the climate of the storage halls raised off the ground.
