Grace’s Arch & Music Blog

I have always lived in capital cities, and I especially yearn for life by the water. Confucius said, “The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills. The wise are active; the virtuous are tranquil. The wise are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived.”

My love for places close to water must have contributed to my decision to move to live near the Danube. Sometimes I go jogging by the river, watching swans playing in the water while resting, or other waterfowl coming and going – it is very interesting. Occasionally fish jump out of the calm water to give me a little surprise. Those small things give me a bit of pleasure in life.

When the weather is not nice, I love to visit museums in the city. Some museums themselves are not directly related to exhibitions, but some museum buildings have interesting stories.

Away from Vienna, there is the Buchheim Museum der Phantasie near Munich in Germany. I call it the unity of nature and humanity. Why? General speaking, this museum combines art, nature and architecture in one.

The multi-level space design in the museum allows people to shuttle through different themes. Various art displays are located in different spaces to satisfy all the senses of the visitors. Here are the works of artist Lothar-Günther Buchheim himself and his private collection. There are a large number of expressionist works, as well as many folk art pieces from Africa and Asia. Buchheim himself was a photographer, publisher, author and even a film producer.

When he was young, he came into contact with submarines during the war and was very interested in the subject. In 1973, he published the novel Das Boot, which was not only very popular, but also translated into more than 30 languages. It was even made into an award-winning movie in 1981. The considerable income allowed him to travel and create abroad for a long time, as well as to collect a large number of foreign art works.

Buchheim informed the Governor of Bavaria in 1995 that he planned to move these private collections abroad. Because of this, the idea of this museum was realized. The process is full of controversy. In 1996, architect Behnisch and his partner won the first prize for architectural competition. But the realization of good things is usually preceded by rough going. The original museum was supposed to be built in Buchheim’s birthplace Feldafing, but had to be moved to the lake (Starnberger See) in Bernried Park, after strong protests from the residents in Feldafing. Nobody would expect to move this museum to such a fairyland-like place. In 2001, it was officially opened to the public to visit the exhibition area of ​​3,200 square metres.

As this construction would now be a new version of his original plan, the architect was free to design a controllable light concept, air conditioning, multi-functional space and movable partition walls. These were all architect’s idea of basic requirements for a museum.

On every floor and in every corner inside, visitors can feel the artworks in this space, which in turn interact with the natural “borrowed landscape” outside.

There are several works created with leaves that remind me of my high school friend who made me a picture with red maple leaves as a memento.

At the end of the first floor, you can go out to a jetty 12 metres above the lake. Standing at the end of the bridge feels like standing on the bow of a ship. Overlooking the sailing boats on the lake and the mountains opposite. The blue sky is dotted with new white clouds like cotton candy. I looked back at the Buchheim Museum and thought in silence.

天人合一

一直在首都生活的我，對在水邊的生活特別嚮往。子曰：智者樂水，仁者樂山。智者動，仁者靜。智者樂，仁者壽。

可能因為非常喜歡有水的地方，意識下就搬家到多瑙河附近。有時去河邊慢跑，休息時看天鵝戲水，或其他水鳥來來去去，覺得很有趣。偶爾平靜的水面中跳出魚給我個小驚艷。這些小細節給我生活中小小的樂趣。 天氣不好時，在城市中的我喜愛逛逛博物館。有些博物館本身和展覽沒有直接的關聯，但有些博物館本身的建築物就是有趣的故事。

遠離維也納，在德國慕尼黑附近有一個幻想的布韓博物館 (Buchheim Museum der Phantasie)，我稱它天人合一。為何呢？簡單地說，這個博物館將藝術，大自然及建築融合為一體。

來這裡的人從停車場開始漫步，在公園的綠地中經過古樹，木涼亭，不同的戶外藝術作品，最後終於發現位於湖畔的建築物。白色及木材交錯的外觀，簡單低調的設計。

博物館中多層次的空間設計，讓人穿梭於不同的主題中。不同的藝術展示位於不同的空間，滿足參觀者的各種感官。這裡都是藝術家布韓 (Lothar-Günther Buchheim) 自己和他私人珍藏的作品。有大量表現派的作品，還有很多來自非洲及亞洲的民俗藝術品。布韓自己本身也是攝影師，出版者，作者甚至也是製片家。

他年輕時因為戰爭接觸到潛水艇然後就對著主題很有興趣。1973年他出版了小說 Das Boot, 不僅大受歡迎，翻譯成三十多國語文，甚至1981年時還拍成了電影，也得獎過。可觀的收入讓他可以到國外長期旅行及創作，還有收集國外大量的藝術作品。

由於此建築成為其原始計劃的新版本，因此建築師可以自由設計可調控的照明概念，可控制的空調，多功能使用的空間還有可以移動式的隔牆。這些都是建築師他對博物館基本要求的想法。

裡面每一層，每個角落，遊客都可以感受在這空間的藝術品，而藝術品又與外面的自然“借來的風景”互動。

有幾幅用葉子創作的作品，讓我回想到高中時好友用紅色楓葉貼了一幅畫送給我當紀念。

逛累了還有舒適的咖啡廳，可以悠閑的享用餐點或喝杯咖啡，讓暖暖的陽光落在身上，聽聽鳥的聲音。有山，有水，有意境。建築安靜地融入藝術和大自然。完全沒有喧賓奪主。

一樓的盡頭可以走出去，到懸空於湖上12公尺的空橋。站在空橋的盡頭，感覺好像站在船頭。眺望著湖上的帆船及對面的山群。藍色的天空被像棉花糖的白雲點綴。我回頭看布韓博物館，心中默默的想。

好美。我還要再回來這個天人合一的地方。