Reconstruction, Munich

For the design of the new exhibition room for the fresco paintings by Rottmann in the Neue Pinakothek Munich, we made it our task to create an environment that resembles the original surroundings of the pictures and thus brings out the original effect of the works of art. The gallery and some partition walls were removed in order to create a room that was high enough for the size of the works. Despite the large number of technical installations, these were all integrated invisibly behind a cladding, so that the frescoes clearly come into their own. The massive steel substructure for the very heavy plaster panels several centimeters thick could also be completely covered. The surface of the walls should now also reflect the rough wall surface of the façades at that time and was therefore covered with a historical fresco plaster in cooperation with restorers. In contrast to conventional painted surfaces, Frescoputz gets its color from the various sands and pigments that are mixed into the lime, not from a superficial coat of paint. This makes the material appear much more lively and changes like a natural stone surface, but is seamless. As in the old exhibition rooms, the color was developed on the basis of color extracts from the exhibits and allows the images to stand out clearly. It is basically a continuation of the background in the pictures. In order to harmonize with the wall surface and to further reinforce the rough, archaic character of the room, the floor is made of rough, reddish-gray granite. In line with the rest of the rooms in the Pinakothek, the lighting was provided by means of a ceiling skylight, which is naturally lit, but is supported by artificial lighting in order to compensate for fluctuations. In our eyes, the rooms have an archaic grandeur and their atmosphere, as it should be in a pinacoteca, is dominated by the works of art, not the architecture.