A striking new museum building inspired by the appearance of pearl mussels has opened in the historic town of Adorf in Germany's Vogtland region. The Pearl Mother Experience Museum, designed by Leipzig-based architectural firm Schulz und Schulz, celebrates the area's rich cultural heritage tied to freshwater pearl mussel cultivation that once made the town famous throughout Europe.
The Vogtland region around Adorf developed a thriving pearl mother-of-pearl industry beginning in the late Middle Ages, thanks to abundant freshwater pearl mussels found in the Elster River. By the 18th century, this specialized craft production had brought the town considerable regional recognition. However, declining mussel populations eventually forced the end of pearl fishing in 1927, and today only scattered mussels can be found in local waters.
The new museum complex, which opened in September, serves as a landmark project positioned on the northern edge of Adorf's old town. Schulz und Schulz won first place in a 2020 architectural competition with their design that deliberately evokes the visual characteristics of a mussel shell. The concept reflects how mussels protect their precious interior pearls with rough, tightly sealed outer shells.
The three-story new construction, with a gross floor area of 917 square meters, functions as the main entrance building and houses spaces for special exhibitions and museum education programs. The architects erected the structure on a former vacant lot, connecting it to two historic half-timbered buildings, including an 18th-century gatehouse, to create a unified museum complex. The existing structures comprise four-fifths of the total floor area and underwent renovation as part of the project.
The building's most distinctive feature is its neo-brutalist front facade made of raw concrete, designed to mimic a mussel's protective exterior. An asymmetrically cantilevered corner that appears to billow outward from the building line when viewed from the side marks the main entrance. The architects constructed the curved building envelope as a material-minimized concrete hyperbolic paraboloid shell.
A continuous water feature flows from the corner into an elongated basin, serving as a reference to the mussels' natural aquatic habitat. The evaporative cooling effect is intended to contribute to a favorable microclimate during summer months. A central patio with skylights extends through all floors, with exhibition rooms featuring windows that look into this interior courtyard space.
Sustainability considerations guided many design decisions throughout the project. Because the new building adopted the floor heights of the existing historic structures, architects achieved a very compact design with minimal enclosed volume. High thermal insulation standards for the new construction, along with interior insulation of the historic building envelopes and limited facade openings, result in minimal heat losses according to the architects.
The exposed solid construction works together with clay bricks and plaster surfaces used in the existing buildings to provide thermal mass. To reduce concrete usage, Schulz und Schulz eliminated a basement level, instead housing building systems in a neighboring historic structure. Heating and cooling systems operate through a solar-powered brine-water heat pump, while central ventilation includes heat recovery technology.
For the project implementation, Schulz und Schulz collaborated with Neumann Architekten from Plauen beginning with construction phase 6. The Plauen-based firm recently completed conversion of a former textile factory into the Fabric Threads Industrial Museum in their home city. Öko-Plan Bauplanung from Plauen handled landscape design for the exterior areas.
Construction costs for the new building totaled approximately 5 million euros according to regional broadcaster MDR. Funding came through various federal, state, and municipal grant programs, including support from the federal National Urban Development Projects program. The project represents a significant cultural investment for the region, preserving and presenting the unique industrial heritage of Vogtland's pearl cultivation traditions in a contemporary architectural setting.
