Project Description
FROM THE SWISS NATIONAL MUSEUM:
The Swiss National Museum has two good reasons to celebrate. For one, the museum group had another outstanding year in 2015 with admission numbers continuing strong. Plus, a landmark project is nearing completion: On 1 August 2016 the new wing of the National Museum Zurich will be opened to the public.
In recent years, the openings of the new permanent exhibitions in Schwyz and Prangins have been the primary focus of the museum group. Now the focus will shift to the National Museum Zurich. 1 August 2016 will be a milestone in the history of the National Museum Zurich – the new wing will be christened, concluding a 15-year realisation period from the initial call for proposals to the competition, building project, political negotiating, planning and execution of the expansion to the museum.
The new wing complements the original museum building of 1898 designed by architect Gustav Gull on the side adjoining the
Platzspitz Park. The old and new buildings are directly coupled to each other so as to form an architectural ensemble of urban space, with the historical and modern building elements successfully contrasting with one another.
Two exhibitions will inaugurate the new exhibition halls: “Europe in the Renaissance”, an exhibition about the culture of dialogue, new horizons in thinking, transformations and cultural interaction over great distances and time, and “Archaeology in Switzerland“, which takes an in-depth look at Switzerland’s archaeological heritage. A highlight in the exhibition programme of Château de Prangins will begin in March 2016 – “De Prangins à Versailles” explores the life and work of Louis-Auguste Brun, the Swiss court painter of Marie Antoinette. An upcoming theme at the Forum of Swiss History Schwyz will be tunnel construction– the exhibition “Gotthard. Onward through the mountain.”, starting in April 2016, will mark the opening of the world’s longest rail tunnel – the NEAT – scheduled for June 2016.