Extension of the Städel Museum

In collaboration with Bollinger+Grohmann, the design by schneider+schumacher won the Competition for Extension of the Städel Museum.

The extension is placed along the central axis reinstating the historic spatial arrangement. The new space below the garden houses the 20th-century art collection. This space is dominated by a gently domed, airy ceiling with circular roof lights. The domed ceiling is a prominent feature in the topography of the garden above and resembles a land art object.

The extension consists of a rectangular 'reinforced concrete box' with a free-formed lid. The roof has received a vegetated soil layer to preserve the 'garden' for the museum complex. The accessible skylights with a diameter of 1.50 m to 2.50 m offer the opportunity to expose the new exhibit space with natural light. The dimensions of the extension are approximately 76 m to 52 m with a height of 6 m to 8 m. The shell is a free-formed ceiling up to 2.26 m in the middle and approximately 26 x 26 m domed upwards.