Küppersmühleen Museum

The Swiss practice offers a new example of how to turn obsolete industrial buildings into imposing museums of contemporary art.

Taking a cue from the marked presence of brick in the buildings close to the inner harbor of Duisburg, a city strategically situated between the Rhine and Ruhr rivers, the new construction has three parts standing 33.5, 30.5, and 27.5 meters, two containing exhibition galleries and the third the entrance, public facilities, and services.

The extension of the original museum, which Herzog & de Meuron carried out in 1999 over an old factory known as Küppersmühle, discreetly joins the brick structures lined up on the wharf. Two bridges connect the expansion to the old museum, while a sculptural staircase links up the various stories of the new wing.