The new wing of the Zurich Museum opened to visitors this summer, but this is just one of the components of the Christ & Gantenbein project, the winners of the corresponding architectural competition in 2002. Since the mid-2000s, the reconstruction of the historical museum complex in the spirit of historicism has been going on in parallel, which will be completed only by 2020 … Measures were taken to achieve seismic and fire safety, and the internal structure also became more convenient for visitors and employees. The main entrance to the museum was moved, the lobby, cloakroom, restaurant and shop were updated; a modern research center was created.
At first glance, the new building blocked the entrance to the courtyard of the existing complex, however, due to its configuration resembling a bridge, it is quite possible to get there and even emphasizes the place of the entrance. Inside, one slope of the triangular "arch" serves as a grand staircase to the main exhibition space, while the other carries the audience rows in the audience. The plan of the building takes into account the paths and trees of the Platzspitz park, with which it borders; a complex roof profile, 80 cm thick walls and a concrete grade specially created for the project - a response to the “castle” museum nearby, including the stone of its facades.
The harsh halls built by Christ & Gantenbein are, on the contrary, an allusion to the factory workshops and an invitation to curators to experiment. The library is solved a little differently, although industrial motives can be found there too.
The total area of the new building was 7,400 m2, the budget (including the reconstruction of the old building) - 111 million Swiss francs. 76 million of them were allocated by the federal government, 20 million - by the canton of Zurich, 10 million - by the city authorities, so the project was submitted to two referendums at once - the townspeople and residents of the canton, and both times received support. The rest of the funds were provided by charitable foundations.
As a reminder, this year also opened
The new building of the Basel Art Museum is another Christ & Gantenbein museum project.
