london architects peter cook and colin fournier, collaborated with architektur consult to create an impressive synthesis of their innovative language of form and the historical ambience of the mur district. the exciting interplay between the new biomorphic structure on the bank of the mur and the old clock tower on the schlossberg will become the trademark of a city which strives to achieve a productive dialogue between tradition and the avant-garde. with respect both to urban planning and to its purpose, the kunsthaus functions as a bridgehead at a point where the past and the future meet.
like a bubble of air, the bluish, shimmering skin of the kunsthaus floats above its glass-walled ground floor. spanning up to 60 metres in width, the biomorphic construction envelops two large exhibition rooms without additional supports. from the surface of the acrylic glass outer "skin", strikingly shaped "nozzles" project outwards to admit daylight: they are inclined to the north and thus provide optimum natural lighting. in the upper storeys, bridges link the 23-meter-high new structure with the "eisernes haus" whose cast-iron construction – which is the oldest of its kind in europe and is classified as a historical monument – was carefully and skilfully renovated as part of the construction work on the kunsthaus.
isolated, transparent window areas in the "skin" allow visitors to look out and gain their bearings, while the "needle", a projecting, glass-enclosed structure, offers a spectacular view of the old town of graz from a height of about 16 metres.
the unique, biomorphic shape of the building owes its existence partly to the manifest fascination of its creators with the "animal presence of architecture" and partly to an idea which goes back to the chequered history of the design competition for the kunsthaus. originally, the kunsthaus was to have been built within the schlossberg of graz, where the project's designers would have used an organically shaped membrane to smooth out the coarse, complex structure of the walls within the mountain. ultimately, the membrane would have protruded out of the mountain and into the city like a dragon's tongue. after the relocation of the construction site, the concept of the dragon's tongue was transformed into the shape of the "friendly alien" which now rests on the right bank of the mur between the brick roofs of the surrounding historical buildings. the reason the kunsthaus was finally built in the western part of the city is partly due to considerations of urban design: in its present location, the kunsthaus can serve as an efficient catalyst for positive changes in the previously disadvantaged half of the city.
the kunsthaus graz was developed to house international exhibitions of multi-disciplinary modern and contemporary art. it will not maintain a collection of its own or a permanent exhibition and it has no permanent depots or research facilities. its only purpose – albeit one which it fulfils in a variety of ways – is to present and propagate the output of contemporary artists. the kunsthaus graz will be operated by the regional museum joanneum as an independent unity. within the framework of this historic styrian museum, the kunsthaus will also be linked to the neue galerie which has supported the procuring and collecting of modern and contemporary art in the last decades.
kunsthaus graz
südtirolerplatz 2 / lendkai 1
a-8020 graz |
