Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen K20
Stylish modernisation of international art museum
Dissing+Weitling has completed a comprehensive modernisation and expansion of the clean-lined art museum in Düsseldorf; a museum, we designed ourselves some decades ago.
- Location
- Düsseldorf, Germany
- Category
- Culture and Museums, Extensions, Transformations
- Year
- 2006 - 2009
- Client
- The Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia
- Collaborators
- Schüßler-Plan Consult GmbH / Hafels und Partner / Licht Kunst Licht / Heinle, Wischer und Partner / Ernst & Young
- Size
- 40,000 m²
- Photographers
- Jens Willebrand / Dissing+Weitling
The result is a stylish whole with contemporary functionality and with a possibility to exhibit large-scale art installations.
Our priority was that the existing building, the modernisation, and the extension were to form a seamless whole. The museum was to be cohesive and in harmony with an architectural style permeating across the new and the old. Furthermore, there was a need for large, flexible spaces for exhibitions of paintings, sculptures and large-scale installation art.
Extention
We built an extension of 7,750 m² consisting of two column-free exhibition halls and a new goods reception area so that the art museum could meet modern requirements for handling art, including correct climate regulation and security. We also modernised the existing 32,250 m², including a complete renovation of the central foyer with ticket sales, bookshop and exhibition area.
From the outside, the extension is covered with light-grey aluminium that serves as the new reception hall for the museum. The artist Sarah Morris created “Hornet” (2010) for our modernisation of the museum. Together with the extension, the geometric work frames the Paul-Klee-Platz beautifully.
Dissing+Weitling built the new Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen K20 art museum from 1975-1986, after having won an international competition.