Extension to the Alte Staatsgalerie
The design by the Basle-based architects Winfrid & Katharina Steib, the first version of which was based on a city planning commission appraisal issued in November 1991, consists of a linear edifice facing Urbanstrasse. Construction of the five-story building has been in progress since June 2000 in the area behind the Alte Staatsgalerie. Completed in late 2002, it houses the library, study centers, offices, restoration workshops, and the Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs.
With the extension, the Collection is brought together in an appropriate environment for the first time since moving back to the Alte Staatsgalerie after the war. The moves also frees space in the Alte Staatsgalerie that will be remodeled and used for exhibitions. At the first-floor level of the Alte Staatsgalerie, the new addition has an exhibition floor connected with the Alte Staatsgalerie by means of glass skywalks. In addition to two spacious, top-lit galleries measuring 271 and 240 square meters respectively, the exhibition floor also has a 161 square meter gallery dedicated to works on paper. The solid form of the lower part of the extension, with its closed, stuccoed façades, impresses the viewer with its clear and simple lines. The filigree treatment of the upper portion of the building (glass and metal structures) presents a deliberate contrast to the massive base. Despite discretion and discipline in the use of design elements and materials, the resulting edifice contributes to the profile of the Staatsgalerie and the city of Stuttgart.
The three buildings of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart the neo-classicistic Alte Staatsgalerie, the world-famous Stirling building, and the Steibs’ elegant wing each speak their own self-confident archetectural language. At the same time, they combine in the interior to form a spatial continuum that provides an excellent backdrop and versatile options for display of the museum's treasures from the 14th century to today. [ CC ]
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