Visit to the “ArchiVision” exhibition at the Tchoban Foundation in Berlin

As part of our monthly „Out of Office“ we visited the “ArchiVision” exhibition on Friday, June 30, 2023 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Museum of Architectural Drawing. rchitekturzeichnung besucht.

The Tchoban Foundation was founded at a time when the architectural drawing seems to be being replaced by the digital design process.

The museum was opened in June 2013 on the Pfefferberg site in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg and is presenting architectural drawings from its own holdings to mark the anniversary. Works from the collections of the Tchoban Foundation and its benefactor Sergei Tchoban, a passionate draftsman and collector of architectural drawings, review the apparently unlimited artistic possibilities of architectural representation.

The cornerstone for his collection was laid in 2001 with the acquisition of a drawing by Pietro di Gottardo Gonzaga. It now includes numerous sheets from different eras, from master drawings from the 16th century to works by contemporary architects – from Jacques Androuet du Cerceau to Hubert Robert, Sir John Soane, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Frank Lloyd Wright to Lebbeus Woods.

The foundation’s property, on the other hand, includes drawings and visions by leading international architects of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as Aldo Rossi, Gottfried Böhm, Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Alexander Brodsky, Moon Hoon and Steven Holl.

The museum presents itself as a four-storey solid building with a glass stacked floor. The conspicuous fire wall development completes a row of typical Berlin old buildings. The attached glass body protrudes about a meter; on the floors below, closed oriels alternately form projections at different angles on the street and courtyard sides. Above the deep entrance niche, a large, glazed loggia creates the only transparent opening in the concrete facade.

Colored concrete and glass make up the facades of the building, a combination that is contrasting and multi-layered in different aspects. Both the sculptural design of the concrete and its production and constructive use are remarkable and, in addition to the cubature, characterize the unusual appearance of the museum. The closed surface of the building is decorated with greatly enlarged fragments of architectural sketches in relief. The oversized line drawings refer to the use of the building as an exhibition space and archive. In many places inside the museum, the design elements of the facade recur and manifest the design code of the house; The specially designed door fittings also follow this principle.

Through a large, deeply grooved wooden door, the visitor enters the museum foyer, which attunes to the effect of architectural drawings with large-format, hand-carved wall panels and fixtures made of walnut. Cabinet rooms have been created on the first and second floors, which allow the works to be studied undisturbed and keep out the damaging daylight. A generously glazed loggia on the second floor offers the opportunity to interrupt the tour. The archive of the foundation is located on the third floor. The staggered floor, which is mostly transparent behind an all-glass double facade, provides an unobstructed view of the lively old building surroundings on Teutoburger Platz. It serves as the office and meeting room of the museum management.

The Foundation’s substantial collection serves as a basis for research into the history and nature of architectural drawing. In addition, an extensive reference library with a focus on architectural drawings offers experts and interested visitors the opportunity for research.

The stated goal of the foundation is above all to bring the fantastic and emotionally charged worlds of architectural drawings closer to a broad public in exhibitions.

Thank you for the interesting tour of this inspiring building and its diverse, historical collection. To the next ten years.

http://www.tchoban-foundation.de/