Start of construction for Kunsthaus Zürich extension
From August 3, the construction site will be set up on the site of the extension to the Kunsthaus Zürich on Heimplatz in Zurich. The project of David Chipperfield's team of architects thus enters the realization phase. The opening of the building is scheduled for 2020.
The building permit was issued in spring of this year - after a two-year interruption due to appeals. The building owner is the City of Zurich, the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft and the Stiftung Zürcher Kunsthaus, united in the Einfache Gesellschaft Kunsthaus-Erweiterung (EGKE).
The total area of the Kunsthaus will almost double. 5,040 square meters of the extension are reserved for art. Designed by David Chipperfield Architects, the light-flooded cuboid will house art from the 1960s onward, the E.G. Bührle Collection with its focus on 19th-century French art, and medium-sized temporary exhibitions. From 2020, 700 to 800 works from the Kunsthaus collection will be on permanent display.
That is 20 percent of the entire stock of paintings and sculptures; today only ten percent can be exhibited. Together with the existing building, the largest art museum in Switzerland is being created. The presentation of art also continues outside the extension building: on its north side, the Garden of Art is being created, which as a public open space creates a connection to the old cantonal school, the university and the ETH.
The Kunsthaus extension will be financed by contributions of CHF 88 million each from the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft (ZKG) and the city of Zurich. The canton is contributing CHF 30 million from the lottery fund. In addition, the canton is granting the Zürcher Kunsthaus Foundation (SZK) an interest-free, permanent building lease on the Heimplatz Nord property. The total contribution of CHF 206 million is based on the target costs of CHF 180 million and reserves. (ah)
