Marshall Berg | Contemporary Museum Architecture | May 3, 2011

TSCHUMI’S NEW ACROPOLIS MUSEUM

The ancient Greeks in Athens existed as one of the most culturally charged

civilizations to have ever existed. As such, they created some of the most important

objects and architecture influencing western culture. These works of art had been

displaced from their original context over centuries of occupation. Since independence,

Greece has been progressively tracking down, unearthing, and attempting to house

original works from the ancient era.

The original museums that held the collection in Athens were constantly out

grown and poorly designed. These museums were so inefficient and unsafe, that foreign

nations simply refused to return the most prized of Athenian relics. In the year 2000

funding finally permitted another attempt to design a building that would be so advanced,

so precocious, that it could house the metaphorical jewels of hellen craftsmanship.

Bernard Tschumi Architects were awarded the site, which sits 300 meters below the

Parthenon, and contains recently excavated ruins to be incorporated into the plans. His

design was awarded the project because each specificity fits perfectly. Before considering
any formal element of New Acropolis Museum Tscumi asks himself: “How (do I) make

an architectural statement at the foot of the Parthenon, arguably one of the most

influential buildings of all time?”1

The ancient Athenian Acropolis: the Greek city-space positioned during the

arbitrary Gregorian-time; 6-4th century, (B.C.E.). This moment, produced man’s most

marvelous monuments. The architecture, sculpture, and paintings from the ancient Greek

culture have an extremely rich conceptual history, and are the foundation for modern day

western society. The Greeks in Athens defined a philosophy of man through their Gods.

Today and in the neo-classical past Greeks have been the thinking man’s ancient clergy.

For some, Socrates thought more men than Jesus, Plato’s teachings rescued more slaves

than Moses, and Aristotle was the man to influence Muhammad. They existed as the

pinnacle of culture in antiquity, and are still regarded in those terms. Unfortunately other

humans moving through Athens space and time, have ravaged the city and its relics,

dispersing them throughout the world, destroying their context and skewing their

interpretation.

Various communities have lived atop the giant stone plateau that is the Acropolis.

It has historically been a stronghold, which in turn means it has been the site of many

skirmishes and wars. The Greek territory was under rule of a number of battling foreign

powers for more than a millennia. The Parthenon and other buildings have been used as

ammunition and explosives storage during war time, now very little remains. The greatest

displacement occurred in 1805 when Lord Elgin serving as ambassador for the Ottoman

Empire “acquired” a large collection of remaining sculptures, inscriptions, and the

Parthenon frieze. He sold the collection to the British Museum in 1816.2 This action has
been a topic of political unrest. Greece has historically called for the return of what is

now dubbed the Elgin Marbles Collection. The British Museum has historically refused

the call from the Greek Ministry of Culture, fearing for the longevity of the artwork in

Greece’s small museum buildings.

Starting in 1820, the Geeks fought a ten-year revolution, finally resulting in

independence.3 In the immediate years following, a museum was proposed and produced.

The first museum in Athens was built to house a particularly small collection.

Constructed during massive excavations of surrounding, and existing sites, the findings

from these digs were vast and quickly outgrew the newly built museum. Continuous

building plagued the museum starting in 1888 until 1947. In that time a second museum

had been constructed and demolished due to poor site planning, in turn, the original

building received extensive remodeling and a sizeable expansion. By 1969 the museum

had outgrown its collection and the vast amount of classically inspired tourists flowing

through its halls4. They needed a larger, and seismically safer museum, and longed to

reclaim the stolen marbles.

Bernard Tschumi is considered a deconstructivist architect. Some notable and

extremely immaculate past projects include: The Limoges Concert Hall,5 The Musuem

for African Art in New York,6 and the Electronic Media Performing Arts Center7, also in

New York. He breaks bounds with his designs, his projects are extremely different from

one another. The commonality in his work is the unique. Also, his buildings are designed

conceptually, not stylistically. In his book Event Cities-3 he describes his methods of

working in more detail. He addresses context, content, and concept in each of his

projects, and carefully considers each for every situation he is invited to partake in.
“There is no building without concept… Concept, not form, is what distinguishes

architecture from mere building. The concept may negate or ignore the circumstances

that surround it, while the context may blur or dampen the precision of an architectural

idea. Contextualizing a concept means adapting it to the circumstances of a particular site

or political situation.”8 Content is brought into his thinking, “There is no architectural

space without something that happens inside of it.” By peeling away the layers of the

project assigned, Tschumi allows himself to mentally start with the simplest elements, the

ideas, and build from there. This is the method of a deconstructivist.

When thinking about The New Acropolis Museum, Tschumi breaks down what is

needed from it. Three challenges emerge instantaneously, when looking at the proposed

context, and content, first as mentioned before, is building in the shadow of the Parthenon

both literally and figuratively. The project must house objects, which originally sat in the

Parthenon, visible from the site. How would he incorporate this metaphorical

positioning? The building must sit on excavated ruins, which are to be incorporated into

the exhibit of the museum, without retaining any damage. What path would the visitors

take through the building to make the most sense aesthetically and historically? Lastly the

museum has to house a complete Athenian collection. It should stand the test of time, and

incorporate final resting places for the prized Elgin Marbles in the design. This project

came to Tschumi weighted with history, opinion, and political dispute, but also a massive

amount of potential.

The final product took close to ten years to complete from concept to form. The

museum is a large extremely minimal and spacious stack of boxes constructed from glass,

concrete, and marble. “Within the unusual constraints of the site, the project ought to
appear effortless and almost undersigned. The goal of this orchestrated simplicity is to

focus the viewer’s emotions and intellect on the extraordinary works of art.”9

Natural light is a major factor in the design. Tschumi’s thought that light is

different, depending on the city, and the sculptures in the collection were originally,

directly under the Athenian sun. Slightly changing ambient light flows onto the

sculptures; this becomes a slightly more natural environment. Vast negative space is also

extremely important for the New Acropolis Museum. It will be an extremely popular

tourist destination, so free space is important. It is also necessary to the collection that

sculptures made to be viewed in the round. Large pediments from ancient temples require

a spacious floor plan.

Tschumi designed the patron’s movement through the museum as a circular

accent and descent with the Parthenon frieze at the awe-inspiring top. The participant

walks through time starting with the “Slopes” gallery, which holds tools, and other daily

objects of suburban Greek life. The Archaic gallery is on the next level; giant cement

columns line the massive white room. Archaic sculpture is sprinkled around on pedestals,

white marble dictates the floor. Then something special happens. The third level is a glass

walled box, which houses the Parthenon frieze, pediment, and other objects from the

temple. One can stroll all the way around the 50 meters of frieze in the center of the

space, but the most exciting part is the view of the Parthenon from the north side of the

room. The original pediment is imposed in the line of sight to the Parthenon alluding

perfectly to the original context.

Tschumi has outdone himself with this museum. He has allowed content, and

context to shape the design of this building, not allowing his concept (or ego)
 to grow larger than the project. He heightens the power of the original sculptures

by giving them a singular, site specific, but extremely paired down space. The regality of

the sculptures, combined with the hellen-humbled architect, makes The New Acropolis

Museum.

NOTES
1
Tschumi, Bernard “Athens, New Acropolis Museum, 2000-” Event Cities-3 (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA 2004) pg 437
2

“What are the Elgin Marbles?” The British Museum Online

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/w/what_are_the_elgin_marbles.aspx
3

“The Greek Revolution and the Greek State” 25 Lectures On Modern Balkan State
http://staff.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/lecture6.html
4

“Museum History” Acropolis Museum Online http://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/default.php?pname=History&la=2

5

“Limoges Concert Hall” Bernard Tschumi Architects Website http://www.tschumi.com/projects/10/

6

“Musuem for African Art” Bernard Tschumi Architects Website http://www.tschumi.com/projects/23/

7

“Electronic Media Performing Arts Center” Bernard Tschumi Architects Website http://www.tschumi.com/projects/43/
8

Tschumi, Bernard “Concept, Context, Content” Event Cities-3 (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA 2004) pg 11
9

Tschumi, Bernard “Athens, New Acropolis Museum, 2000-” Event Cities-3 (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA 2004) pg 437