Museum of World Culture

Located at the foot of a hill on the southeastern edge of central Gothenburg, the site is directly adjacent to Sweden's most visited tourist attraction: the Liseberg Amusement Park. The Museum of World Culture is a new exhibition platform for the collections of the Folkens Museum Etnografiska, the Mediterranean Museum and the East Asian Museum which were situated in Stockholm, together with the Gothenburg Museum of Ethnography. The new building has an auditorium, research centre, library, restaurant and administrative offices and will also serve as a forum for international and local events. The building is a simple and compact container wherein the legacy of mankind and the contemporary are united. The strategy consists of a clearly marked difference between a solid west side containing the gallery spaces along the street and an open east side toward the hill where public activities take place. The latter will reveal the museum's rich interior to the 3 million annual visitors to the Liseberg Park as well as allow the museum's visitors to experience the exterior landscape from a variety of different vantage points. Between the solid west and the open east is a canyonlike zone containing the building services. The public circulation weaves its way through the three elements. As one goes up inside the building, the elements which were seen from below are gradually perceived from above creating a sequence of reference points throughout the building with alternating views of the hill, atrium and museum.