Basel’s Kunstmuseum expansion project is progressing at pace. In Zürich, however, the Kunsthaus’s plans are in legal limbo

The shapes of things to come: rendering of the extension to Basel's Kunstmuseum. Photo: © 2014 Kunstmuseum Basel/Christ & Gantenbein Architects

Switzerland’s two largest art museums are building extensions, although Basel is moving faster than its neighbour and sometimes rival, Zürich. In Basel, construction is proceeding apace on the Kunstmuseum’s project, across the street from the original museum. Visitors to Basel will see that its exterior is nearly complete, and topping off is due later this month.

Meanwhile Zürich’s Kunsthaus has become embroiled in a dispute which has halted work this month. The Swiss environmental group Archicultura is objecting, and permission to build is being withheld by a canton court. 

The Basel and Zürich projects are remarkably similar in scope. Both museums run ambitious exhibition programmes alongside their permanent collections, but space has now become a major problem. They have adopted the same solution: a large extension on a neighbouring site across a road, linked by a tunnel. 

Basel keeps it local

In Basel, the Kunstmuseum’s main building dates from 1936. Six years ago the museum acquired land on the other side of Dufourstrasse, which at the time had an office and apartment block on the site.

An architectural competition was held, with international stars—Zaha Hadid, Rafael Moneo, Tadao Ando and Jean Nouvel—all pitching, however eventually losing out to a young local firm, Christ & Gantenbein. The final design is an angled building, faced with concrete bricks, and at the same height as the original museum. Building work began last year and the museum is due to close next February and to reopen in April 2016 with its new extension.

The project’s cost is Swfr100m ($112m). Half is coming from the canton of Basel. The remainder—a huge single donation—has been given by the Laurenz Foundation, set up by Maja Oeri, the great-granddaugher of the founder of the city’s Hoffmann-La Roche pharmaceutical company. Oeri is a well known figure in Basel, as funder of the Schaulager, the contemporary art centre.

The extension will add 2,750 sq. m of galleries, increasing display space by 43%. The original museum is to house art from the 15th century to 1950, with later work in the extension. The upper floor of the new building will be for temporary exhibitions and the middle floor and part of the ground floor for the permanent collection. Last year, the Kunstmuseum had 238,000 visitors, but this number is expected to rise to around 300,000 with the extension.....Continue Reading

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