Garden of Art Kunsthaus

Kunsthaus Zurich, 2008, Switzerland

Picture © Andreas Fuhrimann, Gabrielle Hächler Architekten AG, Zürich

Landscape Architects: Beglinger + Bryan Landschaftsarchitektur

Year: 2008
Architektur: Fuhrimann Hächler Architekten, Zürich

The trees at the location of the art gallery extension will be untouched. The existing shrub layer will be replaced in favour of getting a better transparency in the park. The precise setting of new, but less trees, initiates inner space and strengthens the central axis from the Art Gallery on to the front steps of the Gymnasium. The intertwined path system has structure and connecting character. The roadside areas have stairs and ramps leading into the park. Walls and fencing remain along the streets. The terrain, preserved because of the existing trees, is covered by lawn and shrub, in which the up to 1 m high shade perennials and ferns form niches and paths. The visitor enters on a flat ramp leading to the interior of a large white garden. The garden appears as a generous space with white painted walls and coarse terrazzo floor where art can be displayed temporarily. If the space remains empty, it can be quickly filled with water, on which the reflection of the sky and the protruding tree branches can be experienced. The inside ribbed wall is preceded by a base where the visitor can rest and view the garden of art.