International Watch Museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds
The project emerged from a competition whose program called for 2,000 m³ of exhibition space for a valuable collection of clocks and other timekeeping devices. The site was a hilly park already occupied by two museum buildings: an art museum housed in an Art Nouveau building and a historical museum in a 19th-century mansion. In addition to the actual exhibition spaces, the building program includes a lecture hall, a library, and clock repair workshops (the museum will also serve as a technical college). To preserve the character of the park and the appearance of the existing buildings, as well as for climatic reasons, it was decided to place the new museum building underground.
