David Chipperfield won the competition for the project of the "forum" in 2006-2007, its first stage opened in 2017, now the second, final stage has been completed. This complex is the idea of a prominent German businessman Reinhold Würth; it was built in the town of Künzelsau across the street from the production campus of his company Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG, but it is not only intended for its corporate needs.
First there
a concert hall and a hall for events appeared, now - a museum for the Würth collection and a conference center. These are low buildings that do not disturb the landscape unfolding to the horizon: they are partially inscribed in a low hill. The language of architecture reminds of modernism of the middle of the last century, but the authors of the project talk more about the relationship with industrial buildings in the neighborhood, from which the "forum" is distinguished only by the high quality of materials and elaboration of details.
At the same time, the complex, bearing the name of Reinhold Würth's wife, was called a "forum" for a reason: the architects still remembered the Roman ensembles, making up their own - of buildings and courtyards, with internal and external colonnades.
The museum includes a large exhibition hall, which can be divided if desired, and a smaller gallery of graphics protected from sunlight. There is also a "belvedere" open to the surrounding landscape, as well as a sculpture park.
Reinhold Würth has collected one of the most important collections of painting, graphics, sculpture in Europe - modern and contemporary. Among the presented masters are Max Beckmann, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, Anish Kapoor, Georg Baselitz. In 2003, Würth acquired the collection of late medieval art by the princes of Fürstenberg, which he has since supplemented with sculpture and painting, including the Renaissance period. The most famous work appeared there in 2012 is
Hans Holbein the Younger “Our Lady of Burgomaster Meyer”. However, not all of these treasures can be seen in Künzelsau: a significant part of the collection is on display in the city of Schwäbisch Hall, and individual works are in 14 "partner" museums and galleries in different European cities.
