Zaha Hadid Architects have revealed the plans for Messner Mountain Museum Corones for the first time back in 2013 (see the initial project design). Today the museum honoring the famed mountain climber is open to visitors, with all of its impressive vistas.
The idea is that visitors can descend within the mountain to explore its caverns and grottos, before emerging through the mountain wall on the other side, out onto the terrace overhanging the valley far below with spectacular, panoramic views. – Zaha Hadid explaining the design concept
Mesner was the first person to climb 14 mountains over 8,000 meters high, he was also the first to climb the top of Mount Everest without any help of an oxygen tank. Here’s what he tells about his vision which was honored by the design: Kronplatz offers views beyond the borders of South Tyrol to all points of the compass: from the Lienz Dolomites in the east to the Ortler in the west, from the Marmolada Glacier in the south to the Zillertal Alps in the north. The museum is a mirror of the world of my childhood – the Geislerspitzen, the central buttress of the Heiligkreuzkofel (the most difficult climb in my whole life) and the glaciated granite mountains of the Ahrn Valley. On Kronplatz I present the development of modern mountaineering and 250 years of progress with regard to the equipment. I speak of triumphs and tragedies on the world’s most famous peaks – the Matterhorn, Cerro Torre, K2, and shed light on alpinism with the help of relics, thoughts, works of art and by reflecting the outside mountain backcloth in the interior of MMM Corones.
The museum is located 2275 meteres above the sea level, on Mount Kronplatz in South Tyrol (Italy). Photo above Inexhibit
See more photos of the museum after the jump:
Photo © Luke Hayes
Photo Werner Huthmacher
Photos Inexhibit
Photo Wisthaler.com
Photos Werner Huthmacher
For more of the project visit zaha-hadid.com.
