After multiple debates following the failure of Jean Nouvel’s project, the Geneva Art and History Museum (MAH) finally revealed its selected project. Baptized “Umwelt” (Environment), it was designed by Geneva firms Fanny Noël Diogo Lopes Architecture, Atelier Plum Architect-Paysagiste and Afry Switzerland SA. It was selected at the end of a competition launched in 2024. If the calendar is respected (development of the project, request for building permission), the site could start in 2030.
The objective is to enlarge the museum’s exhibition spaces, improve technical infrastructure and accessibility, and reintegrate the museum into urban and landscape space. “The situation of the museum in the heart of the city (will be) reaffirmed. Turned out, the MAH (will be) interconnected with urban fabric: openings on the facade, passages and accessible gardens »said the museum press release. New rooms will be fitted out while gateways will link the MAH buildings (the museum and the old schools of Casemates and Fine Arts) and the roof will become accessible to the public.
It will be the first time in its history, that the Mah will experience a complete renovation. Since 1910, the date of the inauguration of the building designed by the architect Marc Camoletti, only the roof had been redone. In 1998, Jean Nouvel’s workshops were selected as part of a call for tenders. The specifications, which conditioned the renovation of the museum to the maintenance of the Italian interior court, did not meet the standards in force. The project was thus abandoned, giving way to years of procrastination.
View of the Umwelt project from Mah Geneva.
© Fanny Noël Diogo Lopes Architecture
In 2008, Swiss heritage Geneva, a heritage association created in 1907, had requested the building classification so that work was undertaken urgently. However, this request was suspended. The initial project had then been reworked, but still did not meet the standards in force.
In 2015, the Council of State finally ordered the museum’s ranking, but joined Jean Nouvel’s project, then strongly disputed. In 2016, Swiss Heritage Geneva published a platform in which he called not to vote in favor of the project: “The creation of a tray on the first level of the courtyard and half-platforms on all stages makes the portico of arcades disappear and the space of the court itself, essential elements of the architectural composition of the building. »» In the same gallery, Swiss heritage Geneva proposed alternatives, including the creation of a connection between the Museum, the Casemates Court and the old School of Fine Arts, and asked for the annexation of the latter.
On February 28, 2016, after a referendum, the citizens of the city of Geneva rejected Jean Nouvel’s project with 54.34 % of the vote. It was not until 2018 that a new process was launched, leading to the selection of the current project.
With nearly 650,000 objects covering 15,000 years of history, the Geneva Art and History Museum (MAH) is one of the main museum institutions in Switzerland.
The Museum of Art and History (MAH) in Geneva.
