Hamburger Kunsthalle Extension
A museum in the Park
2024–2025
Introduction
Nestled between the lakes Binnenalster and Aussenalster in the heart of Germany's second largest city, the Hamburger Kunsthalle is poised for a transformative expansion that reclaims its connection to the city's green corridor system.
The new intervention responds to the museum’s spatial limitations and Hamburg’s evolving cultural landscape, introducing contemporary gallery spaces, improved storage, and dynamic circulation.
Technical details
Hamburger Kunsthalle
Photo: Proloog
A new visitor loop
Since its opening in 1869, the Hamburger Kunsthalle has been enlarged several times, most recently in 1997 with the Galerie der Gegenwart.
The proposed museum extension is a three-story building that introduces a new loop encircling the stacked gallery spaces. Visitors can enter from two starting points — either through a new front entrance facing the park, or via a bridge connecting to the existing Gegenwart building.
As they move through the layered volumes, visitors experience art from different heights while staying connected to the city through a visually open and permeable structure.
The architecture focuses on climate-friendly design and thoughtful urban development, using local materials and combining solar and geothermal energy to reduce environmental impact.
Photo: Proloog
Reconnecting to green corridors
Hamburg’s green environment is the result of an urban planning scheme, that has been nearly 100 years in the making. This innovative plan divided the city into several residential axes and green interaxial spaces, such as parks, playgrounds and sports fields. Green corridors were designed to connect the city to the countryside.
The Kunsthalle site is part of the inner Green Ring, but has a large potential to be better connected to the ring’s ambitions of blue and green connectivity. Connecting the museum to the Binnenalster by establishing a completely new park on the lake, foster multiple pathways for soft mobility options for
the city at large.
A wide range of recreational activities along the water and waterfront encourages a healthy urban lifestyle, and the newly established park will also help reinvigorate local flora and fauna, and contribute to increased biodiversity.
