PROGETTO · PROJECT
In the Baroque design by
Joseph Munggenast the
abbey’s main prospect was
balanced by extensive open
spaces. To relieve the pressure
on existing structures and
ensure building safety the
embankment was hollowed
out in the year 2000. Various
layers of medieval remains
came to light.
To shelter the remains a terrace
was once again installed at
the same level as the adjoining
Baroque-era courtyards. While
giving the excavation area
a clear profile, the terrace
also serves as a spacious
34 paesaggio urbano 3.2013
thoroughfare, translating the
architectural idiom of the
Baroque into modern terms.
The concept to restore the
“Altane” terrace provides for
the creation of a massive
roofing-over structure, which
will thus offer a clearly defined
spatial delimitation of the
excavation zone. Parallel to the
supports of this roof structure,
strip glazing is to create visual
links and axes between terrace,
baroque eastern façade and
excavation zone. Moreover,
this approach ensures
attractive natural lighting for
the exhibition premises.
The roofing-over is composed
of a drivable reinforced steel
ceiling combined with steel
I-beams, which were installed
largely without falsework
supports, thus avoiding
any impairment of the
archaeological elements.
The archaeological exhibition
room with its north-south
alignment is accessible via
walkways and is delimited
to the south – in the zone
of the medieval abbot’s
house – by floor-to-ceiling
glazing, thus disclosing a view
of the baroque library wing
and the Kamp river valley. To
ensure even better views and
improved ventilation, window
apertures that originally had
been provided in the retaining
wall but were bricked up at a
later date should be restored.
The terrace surface is
exclusively provided with
functionally essential design
elements, such as fall
protection features, solar
shading louvers above a strip
glazing and a row of benches
serving as a traffic barrier.
The illumination system is
integrated into these elements.
The pedestrian access is
designed as a spacious
reception area along the
former passage from the
church courtyard to the
terrace and also showcases
the medieval chapel of St.
Vitus, which was hitherto
integrated into the baroque
ensemble but has now been
carefully restored to set it
visually apart and render it
accessible. The new glazed lift
connecting the “Garden of
Silence” to the marble room
on the upper floor of the
imperial wing transforms this
short trip into an experience
of the different architectural
eras visible here.