PORTIKUS .

This project is about Thorvaldsens Museum. It’s a study of creating a new spatial design concept which seeks to build in continuation of the existing architectural logic by Micheal Gottlieb Bindesbøll and in the spirit of Bertel Thorvaldsen ! 

The reason why, is because the current non-original / non site specific interior, is fragmenting and disrupting the building as a Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art,  its original role as a “transforming machine”. 
 

Thorvaldsen’s museum was the first public museum in Denmark. A symbol . A catalyst, pushing towards the aims of the age of Enlightment . Towards liberty and equality .  Access to the museum were free to all ! The building itself is a public architectural narrative embedded within the city. Similarly, the placement of Thorvaldsen’s grave within the central courtyard transforms the institution simultaneously into a museum, monument, and mausoleum. The temple is not only a reference to something sacred, but to the democracy of antiquity . The museum was regarded by many contemporaries as a kind of political monument to freedom

The heart of the project, is the Portikus motif. The buildings identity and coherency is created by the repetition of this very motif.  The concept of Portikus. Derived from the Latin porticus, etymologically related to porta meaning gate or entrance, the term describes more than a physical architectural element. The Portikus represents a transitional spatial condition situated between institution and city, inside and outside. Bindesbøll used Portikus, the old slanted grave portal shape, for the frontal facade of the Museum to reinforce the democratic spirit . The museum does not have only one main entrance, but five, and therefore addresses not merely an absolute monarch, but an entire people , relating to the written words of Bindesbøll himself: “ I ask you not to call it a museum, but rather a Portikus for the enjoyment of the public, decorated with Thorvaldsen’s works.” 

In relation to this, the repetition of one motif, the project has drawn inspiration from the logic of Organicism, an architectural thinking introduced by K.F Schinkel in the 19th century (rooted in Schelling's romantic philosophy) where architecture is percieved as a continuation of nature's own constructive activity. The very principle of repeating the same form , such as the slanted Portikus motif, at different scales , is related to nature's own processes of formation. 

Central to the project is a reconsideration of the museum’s public programmes and their relationship to the institution’s original democratic ambitions. Rather than understanding the reception, café, and museum shop as commercial isolated service functions, the project investigates how these programmes may operate collectively as civic and cultural spaces, supporting the civic spirit of the museum .  Inspired by Thorvaldsen’s belief in the democratization of knowledge and beauty through art and Bindesbøll’s conception of the museum as a place for joy for the people.