[…] In an urban context that is now almost totally exposed to commercialisation and the associated culture of the spectacle, the museum can actually still offer a protected space that may be described as a nucleus of public life, not just because of its general amenities, but also because it is one of the few places that can act like the reflecting wall of Plato’s cave – a receptacle for the projection of those ideas that are essential to our communal existence. To keep these ideas alive, every generation must again interpret them anew in all forms of cultural expression. These include architecture and hence also cultural buildings. If these buildings are truly new, they might appear somewhat alien to their contemporaries, because if they are successful, they will gently force us to look at the institutions they house and their role with different eyes. […]

Full text published in Sauerbruch Hutton. Archive 2. Zurich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2016