Kalmar Museum of Art / Tham & Videgård Hansson Arkitekter

Architects: Tham & Videgård Hansson Arkitekter
Location: Kalmar, Sweden
Architects in charge: Bolle Tham & Martin Videgård Hansson
Collaborators: Lukas Thiel (project architect) Tove Belfrage, Erik Wåhlström, Johan Bergholm
Constructed Area: 1,594 sqm + existing
Project year: 2007-2008
Client: Municipality of Kalmar
Photographs: Åke E:son Lindman

The new Kalmar Museum of Art is the result of a winning proposal in the open international competition in 2004 and will be inaugurated in 2007. Situated in the City Park of the renaissance town of Kalmar, it will be added to a restaurant pavilion dating from the 1930s by Swedish modernist architect Sven-Ivar Lind.

The new museum is a black four-level cube clad with large scale wooden panels punctuated by large glazed openings. It will house both the Kalmar collection of Modern Art as well as provide spaces for temporary exhibitions of contemporary art, videos, performances and concerts.

Almost domestic in its scale this museum still provides a variety of exhibition conditions. The two main spaces are the White Box where one side can open up completely to bring in the exterior of the park, and the top floor gallery that is lit by shed head light shafts doubling its ceiling height. In addition there is a public Art Library and open Workshops.

One of the architectural main features is the open stair spiralling the full height of the building, starting from the new entrance lobby that interconnects between lake-side and park. It is a top lit space with all surfaces in exposed in situ cast concrete.

The four floors, each different from the others, are stacked on top of each other and create a vertical walk up into the greenery of the trees with a series of different spacial experiences while offering views of the environs; the Kalmar Castle, the lake and the city centre.

Construction is in situ cast concrete, the big spans are made with ‘after tension’ slabs. Interior finishes are exposed concrete, black stained plywood dorrs and panels, white painted walls and ceilings, natural ash.

TVH has also designed some furniture; the green bock-tables, the hexagon tables in white ash and stell/carrara, the museum bench, library shelves.