The project aims to make the museum offer in Salzburg even more attractive. But it is also about a sensible use of the historical building stock, the general renovation of the new residence and an additional green and recreational space for the people in the old town, said a governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP) on Wednesday at a media conference. The short-term plans for the Belvedere, with a budget of EUR 31 million, are the largest project in the cultural building program of the state and city after the plans for the festival halls.
The design of attractive exhibition spaces in the basement, a self-explanatory route within the museum and improved access to the New Residence would have been the great challenges for the architects, reported Roland Gnaiger, who chaired the jury. The winning project met all expectations.
The largely unknown second inner courtyard of the New Residence, currently used as a parking lot, is to be turned into a “Giardino Segreto”, a garden overgrown with tall trees. The heart of this courtyard is a conical ring of fountains, through the large opening of which light falls into the basement. As architect Michael Salvi explains the basic idea, a sequence of subterranean exhibition rooms is grouped around this central element – like a windmill – from which there are always visual connections to the light fountain. A total of around 1,300 square meters of exhibition space will be created for the Belvedere.
A sala terrena is planned as a covered outdoor space between the first and second courtyard. This also accentuates the future joint entrance area of the two museums, which will be accessed via a new staircase that looks like a sculpture with its light dome. It should serve as the central hub of the two institutions and integrate the historic building stock with its vaults, said Salvi. The stairs also allow visual axes in exhibition areas or in the old town.
“We want to roll out a carpet from the courtyards of the residence in the old town and restore passageways,” said architect Clemens Standl from Eidos Architekten. The former magnificent portal on the side of the Residenzplatz – today the access to the post office and the panorama museum – is to be opened and upgraded. The arcades located there will be uncovered and the installation removed for the presentation of the large Sattler panorama. This creates a spacious entrance situation in the inner courtyard, which can also be reached from Kaigasse through a portal.
The location in Salzburg will be a calling card for the Belvedere, says museum director Stella Rollig, together with Salzburg museum director Martin Hochleitner, about the fact that the vision of the expansion has now reached a milestone. Salzburg Museum and Belvedere will remain two independent units, but will be able to use many synergies. Joint exhibition projects are also possible – the architecture also allows for these cooperations spatially.
The Salzburg Museum, which currently has around 3,000 square meters of exhibition space, will have a further 1,000 square meters as part of the expansion. In addition, the state is estimating around 15 million euros for the general refurbishment of those areas of the New Residence that are now used as offices. The state and the university will be temporarily relocated and will return to the new residence after the construction work. Detailed planning is to take place over the next two years, and Hochleitner expects the end of 2026 to be the completion date.
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