Montblanc Haus Exhibition Center / Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos

Text description provided by the architects. Montblanc Haus is an exhibition center dedicated to the art of writing located next to the current factory of the Montblanc company on the outskirts of Hamburg. The project was conceived as a 100 m long volume that evokes the shape of a writing instrument case and hides a complex sequence of spaces on three levels articulated around a single vestibule illuminated from above. The building, with a surface area of 3,600 m2, houses a permanent exhibition that invites visitors to discover and experience writing through the history of pens and precision instruments that are part of the Montblanc archive.

The main façade radically transforms the exterior image of the factory complex. The different degrees of depth marked on the large black concrete relief that extends along its entire length recall the horizon line of the mountain that gives the brand its name, as well as the gesture of the hand when writing, offering a large surface area for outdoor projections. A large outdoor area, defined by a green hill that protects it from traffic, creates an extension of the surrounding vegetation and a space for outdoor public recreation.

The project pays homage to the culture of writing, presenting itself as an enigmatic construction towards the exterior, attentive to the scale of its surroundings and to the quality of space and light on the interior, aware of the role of architecture in the revitalization of industrial areas and in the process of generating public space.