2013-2018 Content realignment, architectural competition 2015, referendum
Chronology
2013-2014: The scenography concept - an innovative museum concept
On the initiative of the Gutenberg Museum, a comprehensive analysis of the museum's infrastructure was carried out in 2013-2014. This analysis formed the basis of a scenography concept that was developed in cooperation with the Stuttgart-based Atelier Brückner. The innovative plan for a sustainable museum identified structural and content-related deficiencies and developed new proposals for the sustainable redesign of the permanent exhibition and contemporary museum operations. In order to maintain its reputation as a world museum of printmaking, fundamental renovations are needed in terms of both the structural situation and the exhibition design, as well as further development of the content to reflect the 21st century.
Objectives of the scenography concept
As-is analysis of the scenography concept
Scenography concept for the new Gutenberg Museum
2015: Architectural competition
Based on the scenography concept, an EU-wide architectural competition was launched in 2015. On February 19, 2016, the Hamburg-based architectural firm DFZ Architekten emerged as the winner (2nd place: Mäckler Architekten, Frankfurt am Main; 3rd place: Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei, Stuttgart). The winning design envisaged an independent building with an underground connection to the exhibition building (the so-called Schell Building) in the first construction phase and was part of the overall concept for a "museum quarter" ("Gutenberg Quarter"). The new building, popularly known as the "Bible Tower," represented the first construction phase. It was to house the most valuable exhibits of the Gutenberg Museum, including in particular the two Gutenberg Bibles, as a treasure house visible from afar with a high-quality facade made of a bronze alloy of copper and tin. A walk-in vault, additional exhibition areas, and a reading lounge were planned for the library tower.
April 2018: Referendum
After the draft plans were announced, a citizens' initiative collected approximately 13,000 signatures opposing the construction of the so-called "Bible Tower" in the first construction phase. In service phase V, the construction project approved by the Mainz City Council was halted by this referendum on April 15, 2018.