At 83 years old, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor has returned to his roots in Basel to oversee a project that deeply resonates with his childhood. During the early 1960s, while serving as an apprentice in his father’s cabinet-making workshop, Zumthor designed his first cupboard. He famously recalled the satisfaction of creating a door that closed with a distinct “special sucking sound,” an experience that instilled in him what he calls “the Basel pride in the well-built object.” Now, after decades of achieving global acclaim, he has brought that same sensibility to the £110m expansion of the Beyeler Foundation. With a fleet of globally celebrated projects to his name, the 83-year-old Swiss architect is back in Basel, beaming with the same local pride, six decades on. Which is also his first project here: a monolithic new gallery that looks chiselled from the earth, its layers of pale crumbly concrete hammered into shape, its big oak and bronze doors – their handles wrapped with leather cord – closing with that same satisfyingly expensive Swiss swoosh, he is gazing out at his latest well-built object. Foreshadowing his bigger museums to come, piano took his hi-tech fetish and wrapped it in a luxurious stone skin.
The project represents a significant homecoming for the architect. Describing the process of working in his home city, Zumthor noted that it evoked an “old feeling,” as he collaborated with local craftspeople who remembered his father and possessed a specialized knowledge of how to construct things by hand. This focus on bespoke, hand-crafted work stands in stark contrast to his recent experience in the United States, where he completed the $724m addition to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Reflecting on that process, he remarked that the typical American architect is often accustomed to sourcing mass-produced products rather than seeking out artisans capable of custom commissions. They weren’t surprised if something had to be custom-made.”. But is the sum of these bespoke parts a worthy companion to one of the country’s – if not the world’s – most beloved art museums.
Switzerland, by contrast, allowed for an entirely different methodology. Every detail of the new gallery—from the pear wood handrails to the leather-upholstered benches and the blown glass lamps—has been meticulously handmade. The glass lamps are particularly rare, crafted by only two individuals in Italy who possess the lung capacity required for the labor-intensive blowing process. These elements help define an environment that serves as a necessary, domestic counterpoint to the more industrial aesthetic of the existing foundation building.
The Beyeler Foundation, originally designed by Renzo Piano and opened in October 1997, was long celebrated for its elegant, sober restraint. Sited in Riehen, on the grounds of an 18th-century villa, it was commissioned by art dealers Ernst and Hildy Beyeler to house their significant collection of Monets, Miros, and Picassos. Despite its initial success—and an extension just two years later—the museum eventually became the most visited in Switzerland, handling roughly 500,000 visitors annually. To address the need for more space, 100 architects were approached for ideas in 2016; Zumthor was eventually chosen from a final shortlist of 11. The Beyeler Foundation was hailed as a model of elegant restraint when it opened in October 1997 – the same month as Frank Gehry’s billowing Bilbao Guggenheim – praised as a sober foil to the “iconic” tendencies of the time, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. A long, low, temple-like shed nestled in a garden, the foundation contains within its porphyry walls a luminous sequence of galleries, with daylight flooding through slender rooftop louvers.
Zumthor’s addition expands onto the former Iselin-Weber park, effectively doubling the museum’s footprint. The expansion comprises three distinct structures: a five-storey timber-clad block for offices and art handling, an auditorium pavilion intended as a public lounge accessible without a ticket, and the main gallery. The pavilion serves as an inviting, warm wooden space, while the gallery itself rises from the earth like a natural, rocky outcrop.
The architect describes the gallery’s construction as “farmer concrete,” a reference to the rugged, hand-tamped technique he has utilized throughout his career, including at the Bruder Klaus field chapel in Germany. Workers were instructed to mix Jura stone into the concrete and pack it by hand at a rate not exceeding 45cm per day to ensure the texture remained rough and authentic. Zumthor dismisses the idea of a sleek finish, arguing that a highly polished appearance resembles a fashion magazine rather than a building with history. It was quite a change from his previous building site.
When addressed about the environmental impact of utilizing such significant amounts of concrete, Zumthor remains firm, stating he could not justify building a wooden museum, as he believes it is not optimal for displaying art. The result is a structure that invites physical interaction, with stone benches integrated into the facade to accommodate visitors. This intimate approach to architecture is captured in the new Wim Wenders documentary, From Inside Out, where the architect explores how the project serves as an extension of his own local heritage.
