Kunsthalle Zurich refurbishment by Gigon/Guyer Architects and Atelier WW

Kunsthalle Zurich has permanently reopened in a space within the Löwenbräu art complex, which has been refurbished and expanded by Swiss firms Gigon/Guyer Architects and Atelier WW

(Image credit: TBC)

By Ellen Himelfarb

last updated 15 August 2022

in Features

Twenty-seven years of house-hunting has finally paid off for the Zurich's Kunsthalle, the contemporary art museum that nurtures emerging talents from across Europe, then welcomes them back after they find success.

Now the Kunsthalle has reopened permanently in a repurposed space within the Löwenbräu art complex, where it has been squatting for a decade and a half. Swiss firms Gigon/Guyer Architects and Atelier WW collaborated on the refurbishment, crowning the 19th-century former brewery with a thick beer foam-like white-concrete arcade that slices across the top from one vantage point and slides down in the rear to form its own four-storey structure.

Inside, the design team added an intermediate floor to the cavernous, old industrial building, fitted vast windows, reinvented the foyer and built corridors that smooth the transition between the old wing and new. The concrete addition hosts light-infused exhibition spaces, an event hall and a rooftop lounge for rendezvous between the art patrons who frequent this reinvigorated corner of post-industrial Zurich.

The Kunsthalle will share space in the original wing with other, less established galleries, as well as the avant garde Migros art museum, a bookshop and café, all of which launch anew this week. Still, the Kunsthalle's inaugural exhibition will be the centrepiece: an unpacking of recent travel photos by Wolfgang Tillmans, the Turner prize winning German photographer who held his first museum show at the museum's now-defunct location in 1995. Joining the opening bill will be the young British sculptor Helen Marten, also with new work on hand.

Red brick building with white concrete extension — The renovation of the 19th-century former brewery features a white-concrete extension that slices across the top from one vantage point and slides down in the rear to form its own four-storey structure

Black staircase and grey floor in an otherwise white space — Inside, the design team added an intermediate floor to the cavernous, old industrial building

White steel girders support huge windows — Vast windows were also fitted and corridors built to smooth the transition between the old wing and new

Grey floored exhibition space — The concrete addition also hosts light-infused exhibition spaces

Two broken crab shells — The museum's inaugural exhibition is an unpacking of recent travel photos by German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans along with work by young British sculptor Helen Marten. Pictured is 'Astro Crusto (a)', 2012 by Wolfgang Tillmans.
*All of Wolfgang Tillmans images are courtesy Galerie Buchholz, Köln/Berlin*

Many people attending an outdoor market — 'Market I', 2012 by Wolfgang Tillmans

Left: a boy running through slums. Right: a landscape at night — Two images from Wolfgang Tillmans latest book titled 'Neue Welt' (New World). 'Neue Welt 32-33', 2012 by Wolfgang Tillmans

Left: a woman with a bag, waiting at a road. Right: two people talking and another three walking away with their arms on each others shoulders — 'Neue Welt 36-37', 2012 by Wolfgang Tillmans

Left: close-up of two flowers. Right: grey horizontal marks across a pale background. They get weaker towards the top — 'Neue Welt 106-107', 2012 by Wolfgang Tillmans

Left: lichen on a tree. Right: wooden construction in woodland — 'Neue Welt' 200-201, 2012 by Wolfgang Tillmans

An image of a sheep's head made into a clock — Night Lites (pitted orange), 2011 by Helen Marten
*Photograph: Roman März. Courtsey Johann König, Berlin*

A solid yellow hand holding a cigarette and a neon outline of the same image — Ludic Organs, 2011 by Helen Marten
*Photograph: Marc Domage. Courtesy Johann König, Berlin*

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Based in London, Ellen Himelfarb travels widely for her reports on architecture and design. Her words appear in The Times, The Telegraph, The World of Interiors, and The Globe and Mail in her native Canada. She has worked with Wallpaper* since 2006.