Kalmar Museum of Art

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Project Name: Kalmar Museum of Art
Construction year: 2008
Website: www.kalmarkonstmuseum.se
Address: Slottsvägen SE - 392 33 , KALMAR - Sweden

Architect(s) : Tham & Videgård Arkitekter (www.tvark.se)
Project Category: Cultural | Museums

Latitude: 56.6607
Longitude: 16.3547

Kalmar Museum of Art

Kalmar Museum of Art was opened to the public on May 10th 2008 and has been shortlisted for the Best new Cultural building at the World Architectural Festival in Barcelona 2008, the Mies van der Rohe Award 2009, the Helgo Prize 2008, and was finalist for the Forum AID Award for the best architecture in the nordic countries 2008.

Kalmar has an interesting and quite radical history of building. The city boasts a renaissance castle, the Storkyrkan church by Tessin (architect of the royal castle in Stockholm), and examples of 18th, 19th and 20th century architecture. In the 18th century the whole city was moved from the castle environs to the island where the city lies today. In light of this, the old cathedral was destroyed so as not to constitute protection for enemy forces.

Situated in the City Park of the renaissance town of Kalmar, the Kalmar Museum of Art stands next to an existing restaurant pavilion dating from the 1930s, by Swedish modernist architect Sven-Ivar Lind.

The competition motto was Platform, and the conceptual idea was to create a series of open platforms for art-related activities. It also forms a structural intention for the museum, with large spans for maximum flexibility on each level, so that light and space can be transformed and adjusted in order to meet the specific needs of each exhibition.

The top floor gallery is lit by shed head light shafts, doubling its ceiling height.

The white box can open up completely on one side to bring the park inside the building.

The open stair spirals the full height of the building and starts in the new entrance lobby that connects the lake and the park. It is a top lit space with all surfaces in exposed in-situ cast concrete.

Construction is in-situ cast concrete, and large spans are achieved with post-tension slabs. Interior finishes are exposed concrete, black stained plywood doors and panels, white painted walls and ceilings, and natural ash.
(text from architect's website)

Contributed by ArchiTeam