A symbiosis of the past and the future was the educational concept for the Museum of Medical Technology in Erlangen. At the exact site of the first factories for X-ray machines the city of Erlangen intended to launch a structural change from a city renowned for electronical engineering to a place of innovation in the fields of the media and health. For this purpose the old factory is transformed into a structure enabling many interdisciplinary interactions. Numerous biomorphological interconnections merge the old and the new.
A natural phenomenon is the point of departure for this transformation: the extremely efficient and aesthetic cell structure of human long bones. Their macroscopic adaptation into architecture enables the construction of unusually strong supporting structures with only a minimum use of materials and the creation of new, fascinating spaces, which challenge our imagination and awaken our curiosity.
After gutting the existing building from all fixtures and extensions it was developed into an organic macro-structure of load-bearing concrete shells and arched girders. The formerly hermetically sealed factory site thus opens up towards the city.
It has an inviting, transparent look about it with images from the world of microscopy and endoscopy printed onto its glass shell. Equipped with a low-energy coating and silk screen printing (serigraphy), the façade acts as a gentle energy filter and daylight screen and at the same time performs as a media information board. The interior is organised as a single space continuum in which large ramps literally weave their way through an interactive organism.