Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern

The prominent Genovese architect Renzo Piano, recipient of the 1998 Pritzker Award, has just designed a new and unusual museum building - the Zentrum Paul Klee on the outskirts of Bern. The center, says Piano, is dedicated to the 'poet of silence,' and thus it was fitting to consider building a museum that would speak softly. The Zentrum Paul Klee rises upward in the form of three hills connected by a 150-meter-long thoroughfare, the so-called Museum Street within the museum complex. It is a harmonious yet prominent Landscape Sculpture featuring an innovative steel construction that supoprts the roof. In this documentation, Benedikt Loderer provides a detailed description of Renzo Piano's architectural idea. With the aid of numerous photographs, design sketches, plans and models, he presents a living image of the building and its architectural history.