Kolumba Kunsthaus
Cologne, Germany
Peter Zumthor, Architect
The Kolumba Museum in Cologne was designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, and built in 2007 on the ruins of the Gothic church of St. Colomba. The remaining walls of St. Colomba, as well as the 'Madonna in Ruins' chapel built in 1950, have been integrated into the new building. The perforations on the walls of the museum allow natural light, and the sounda of the city, to penetrate the building,
A garden, situated at the entrance of the museum, allows visitors to collect their thoughts and meditate in a zen like environment. In the museum, contemporary art is often displayed side by side with relics from the past centuries. Artificial light is often combined, or alternated with sunlight provided by large windows, and the perforations on the walls."The result is serene yet stimulating. In fact, so seamlessly executed is the whole that, at times, it's hard to separate the building and the art." (The Guardian)
"Kolumba has been aptly termed a museum of contemplation in which there is an ongoing dialogue between past and present" (Sarah McFadden, Art in America)
