The design of the new building was entrusted to David Chipperfield as a result of the 2008 competition: it was already the fourth building of the museum, which could show only a tenth of its collection at a time. Unlike the three previous buildings that make up a single complex, the building of the British architect appeared on a separate site, across the Heimplatz square: an underground corridor 64 m long connected it with the main ensemble of the Kunsthaus.
The new museum building also plays an urban planning role: it marks the beginning of the university district of Zurich - further north are the ensembles of the city university and the Federal Higher Technical School (ETH Zürich). In addition, he connects the space of the square with the new Garden of Art arranged behind its rear façade.
Chipperfield's design was based on the laconic rectangle of the cantonal school (1842) north of the site, behind the newly created garden, as well as the stone façades of key public buildings in Zurich, such as the very first neoclassical Kunsthaus from 1910, designed by the leading Swiss architect of the milestone. centuries by Karl Moser, as well as the ceremonial university buildings of the nineteenth century, including the main building of the ETH by Gottfried Semper.
The block of the new museum building made of artificial stone with vertical profiles of Jurassic limestone (Lisberg deposit) occupies a significant place in the urban environment, at least because of its size (square 60x60 m in plan, 21 m in height, total area - 23 300 m2), however, the restrained color and solution of the facades soften the contrast of the building with the surroundings. The profiles that vertically overlap the window openings are made of artificial stone, because it was important to use solid blocks of material here. It is also used for the "cornices" dividing the floors and ensuring the "readability" of the facades.
The marble paving of the floor in the lobby of the 1910 building continues into the plaza in front of it and - across the carriageway - in front of the Chipperfield building and its spacious lobby. Public areas are located on the ground floor: an auditorium for 500 people, a museum shop, a cafe-bar, an educational center, and also administrative premises. On two underground levels there is a storeroom, workshops, wardrobes, a storage room, toilets.
The two upper floors are occupied by exhibition halls: here the floors are covered with oak parquet, and the necessary accents and fittings are made of brass, which has only been covered with wax - the project provides for the appearance of a natural patina on it.
Natural light enters the halls of the second floor from the side, through the windows, and the third from above, through the glazed sections of the ceilings.
The new building will open to visitors in 2021: it will exhibit works of "classical" modernism, the latest art (after 1960), the collection of Emil Georg Bührle. These halls will also host small exhibitions.
