Preservation of Haute Horlogerie
Out of the now numerous publications dealing with the newly opened Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet, the article “Wahrung der Haute Horlogerie” (Preservation of Fine Watchmaking) published today in “steeldoc 03/20” appeals to us the most. For good reason, because in contrast to the other publications, the five-page article is not primarily devoted to the architectural brilliance of the building, but rather focuses on the construction technology and the “inventiveness” (quote!) of the engineers. The authors of the esteemed publication series from SZS remain true to their principle “from experts for experts” and, as usual, focus on the constructional details.
The current booklet brings together several construction documentaries under the title “A Roof of Steel”. Although the Musée Atelier does justice to this content bracket – the double spiral is spanned by a lightweight steel roof structure – it is above all the load-bearing, curved interior and exterior walls made of glass that form the focus of the documentation. They doubtlessly represent the structural and design highlight of the building. Rich in detail and technically coherent, the article traces the development of the transparent load-bearing structure from the design, the examination of the demanding geometry, through the component tests to the structural implementation. A clear illustration accompanies the technical explanations.
(Photo: Iwan Baan)
