From Fragment to Form: The Kolumba Museum as a Model of Historical Continuity in Postwar Germany Part 1 Dissertation 2026 Lucy MacMillan Mackintosh School of Architecture | UK The Kolumba Museum: A Model of Historical Continuity in Postwar Germany explores how architecture can respond to cultural memory and historical trauma without reconstructing or erasing the past. Through a critical study of Peter Zumthor’s Kolumba Museum in Cologne, the dissertation argues that the project offers an alternative model of post-war reconstruction - one founded on historical continuity, material authenticity, and lived experience.Combining architectural analysis with theories of phenomenology, memory, and heritage, the research examines how Zumthor integrates archaeological remains, the ruins of St. Kolumba Church, and contemporary architecture into a single spatial experience. Rather than treating history as a fixed narrative or monumental object, the museum enables visitors to encounter multiple layers of time through atmosphere, light, materiality, and movement. Comparative analysis with key European reconstruction projects further demonstrates how Kolumba departs from conventional approaches that either restore an idealised past or privilege modernist rupture.This dissertation concludes that Kolumba represents a significant architectural response to post-war Germany’s fractured cultural landscape by preserving absence rather than seeking closure. It proposes that architecture can sustain dialogue between past and present through sensory experience and spatial continuity, allowing memory to remain open, evolving, and interpretative. In doing so, the research contributes to contemporary debates on conservation, adaptive reuse, and memorial architecture, positioning the Kolumba Museum as a compelling model for designing with history rather than simply preserving or reconstructing it. Tutor(s) Florian Urban