| In hindsight, the location of the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum was almost unavoidable: the building in the Fürstenallee in Paderborn was once the administration centre of Nixdorf Computer AG. The exhibition and the conference rooms at the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum have been built into the existing architecture in such a seamless way that the casual observer might not recognize the past uses of the building.
However, the Iocation of the museum was the object of detailed thinking and many decisions.
When the first study of the Nixdorf Computer museum was prepared
in 1984, the building was still being used for the purpose
for which it was built in 1972: to direct the international
activities of the Nixdorf Computer AG. Heinz Nixdorf himself
was from Paderborn, however his first company, Lab for Impulse
Technology, was located in Essen. By 1960 he had already moved
the main offices of the company to his birthplace, certainly
not only because of the connection to his hometown but also
because the economics of this site were significantly better
than those in the city in the Ruhr.
The architect Hans Mohr drafted the building according to Heinz Nixdorf's architectural ideas - the company's founder paid dose attention to a uniform appearance for all Nixdorf Company buildings.
|
After Nixdorf Computer AG merged with the information systems division of Siemens AG the administration and research activities were spatially redistributed. Use of the old administration building ceased at this time. One of the reasons for this was the need to remove asbestos - insulation used in the 1960s and 1970s that has been found to cause cancer.
The building remained empty for a while. Still, when the discussion about possible sites for the museum was taken up once aqain in 1990, the city of Paderborn first considered other possibilities such as a civic administration building that was not being used to capacity and that had been a Nixdorf building at one time. Of course, the architecture of that site and the available space would not have met the demands of this project.
In contrast, the building in the Fürstenallee boasted surprisingly good conditions for the planned installation. Aside from the still intact office arrangement and interior design and the asbestos, one had a glass building that - decontaminated - provided enough undivided space and architectural possibifities with which to work. One could begin with the existing infrastructure and add to it. |
History