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Paul Klee Center, Bern, Switzerland

Object Type
Concert Halls

Client
Maurice E. u. Martha Müller Foundation, Bern

Architects
Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Paris

Completion
2005

Expertises
Room Acoustics
Building Acoustics

The Paul Klee Center is a cultural institution made possible by the Maurice E. and Martha Müller Foundation. Thanks to this private initiative, today there is a museum in Bern showcasing the work of the artist, musician, teacher and poet Paul Klee. The museum‘s hillshaped design created by Renzo Piano emerges harmoniously from Bern‘s surrounding hills. In addition to extensive exhibition space and a children‘s museum, the Center includes an underground auditorium with highly flexible acoustics.

In the trapezoidal-shaped auditorium, 300 seats are arranged like in an amphitheater. With a volume of approx. 4,300 m³, reverberation times of up to 2.0 s can be achieved. A sophisticated system of specially formed and aligned lateral reflectors in combination with ceiling reflectors provide for a balanced sound and the enveloping of the audience. Behind the lateral wall reflectors and the seemingly floating audience platform, up to 400 m² of curtains can
be unfolded in the form of acoustic banners for decreasing the reverberation time to 1.1 s. Thus, the flexible room acoustics ensures the hall‘s very broad range of usage.
Excellent sound insulation was achieved by the room-within-a-room construction including elastically mounted, precast face concrete elements. The textured surface of this face concrete also serves for an increased sound diffusion in the auditorium.

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