Beyeler Foundation: The Latest Architecture and News

Architecture this week reflects on how buildings and cities adapt to changing cultural, social, and environmental conditions. From the expansion of established institutions and the preservation of architectural archives to new approaches to housing and the use of domestic space, several stories consider how architecture negotiates between existing contexts and future needs. These questions extend beyond individual buildings, touching on the role of public space, infrastructure, energy, and collective memory in shaping the built environment. At the same time, new projects and cultural programs across different contexts demonstrate how architecture can respond to local histories, urban transformation, and resource constraints while establishing new relationships between buildings, landscapes, and the communities that use them.

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The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland, is expanding its museum ensemble with three new buildings by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, an enlarged and restored park, and the adaptive reuse of several historic structures. The expansion extends the existing museum designed by Renzo Piano, adding exhibition, education, cultural, and public spaces while opening a previously private section of the surrounding landscape to visitors. The expanded ensemble will begin welcoming visitors on September 26, 2026, during a preview phase running through January 14, 2027, before fully opening on January 15. Zumthor's additions comprise the Wyss Museum, the Ammann Pavilion, and the Erlen Torhaus, positioned within the existing landscape and differentiated through their programmes, forms, and material treatments.

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The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, near Basel, will begin opening its expanded campus to the public this autumn, with the full ensemble set to be accessible in January 2027. The project brings together the museum building designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and opened in 1997 with a series of new additions by Peter Zumthor, as well as several repurposed historic structures. Through the expansion, the institution increases its exhibition capacity while extending its grounds to include a larger public landscape. The development represents a new phase for the Fondation Beyeler, building on its focus on the relationship between art, architecture, and nature.

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Atelier Peter Zumthor has revealed conceptual designs for their CHF 100 million ($100 million USD) addition of the Beyeler Foundation in Riehen, Switzerland, just outside of the city of Basel. Located on land formerly off-limits to the public, the extension will add an array of new event and gallery spaces to the existing museum, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and opened in 1997.

Drawing from the “village-like character” of Riehen, the addition will consist of three, relatively small new buildings that blend harmoniously into the museum’s nature-filled setting: a stoic building for administration and service, a glass pavilion for events, and a grand House for Art. Together, their arrangement will help to create a subtle link between the new and old areas of the site.

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The office of Peter Zumthor has been selected to design an expansion to the Beyeler Foundation, located just outside Zumthor’s childhood home of Basel, Switzerland. The Swiss architect was chosen from a prestigious shortlist of 11 firms to add to the existing museum building, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and completed in 1997.

“The sky above Basel, the city and its surroundings–those are the landscapes of my youth,” said Zumthor. “It is heart-warming to be able to design a major building here.”