Porche Museum

Porsche's new museum in Stuttgart opens to the public on Jan. 31. The spectacular building is the work of the Vienna-based architecture firm Delugan Meissl.
(there are twelve photos with the article)

article link - New Porche Museum Celebrates the Need for Speed

clip -
60 YEARS OF HOT CARS
New Porsche Museum Celebrates the Need for Speed

By Jürgen Pander
Porsche's new museum in Stuttgart is a spectacular piece of architecture featuring equally spectacular cars. Auto fans can worship at the temple of speed as of Jan. 31.

When Porsche was celebrating its 60th anniversary last year, the company struggled to find a suitable location for the party. Although Porsche, which is based in the Stuttgart suburb of Zuffenhausen, has been building highly sought-after cars for decades, it didn't have a space where its success story could be properly told: Unlike Audi, Mercedes or BMW, Porsche did not have its own showcase company museum.

Now that has changed, with the spectacular new building due to open to the public on Jan. 31. In actual fact, the museum was supposed to have been finished in time for last year's party. But when the architectural competition for the new museum building was held five years previously, the company's management chose -- of course -- the most spectacular design, the work of the Vienna-based architecture firm Delugan Meissl. The construction was originally supposed to cost €50 million ($65 million). In the end, the museum cost twice that, with the work taking a lot longer than expected. "In professional circles, the design was initially regarded as unbuildable," says museum director Achim Stejskal. "But now it is finished and simply sensational."

The structure is 140 meters (460 feet) long and 70 meters (230 feet) wide, but the really daring thing about the building is the angular body of the museum, which stands on just three pillars. These three "legs," which support a massive 35,000 metric tons of weight, house the building's freight elevators and escalators for visitors. The main body of the building, which almost looks as if it is free-floating, contains 5,600 square meters (60,300 square feet) of exhibition space. As well as the cars on display, the building is home to the gourmet restaurant "Christopherus," spacious meeting rooms and a rooftop terrace.
/end of clip (much more to the article)