The Kolumba Art Museum of the Cologne Archdiocese– Peter Zumthor, Cologne, Germany

The Kolumba Art Museum is located in Cologne Germany, and it houses the large art collection of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese (Cilento 2010). Cologne was ravaged by WWII, and this museum sits on the site of a late- Gothic church. Zumthor, like in many of his architectural projects, used fragments and stone ruins from the church that used to stand in its place in the construction of the museum to preserve the historical significance of the area. The entirety of the building is made of a custom grey brick, which makes the museum very contemporary in appearance, but also peaceful.

The museum has 16 exhibition rooms, and a garden courtyard at the center. Because of the grey brick making up most of the infrastructure, it seems pretty plain and simple on the inside, but being a museum, its appropriate because the art should be the main focus. The lighting throughout is more diffused with spotlights on the art pieces, giving the building an overall ethereal and spiritual feeling, which is to be expected due to the art being from the Archdiocese.

Cilento, K. (2010, August 6). Kolumba Museum / Peter Zumthor. Retrieved from https://www.archdaily.com/72192/kolumba-musuem-peter-zumthor

All of the photos are from the above article, taken by Jose Fernando Vasquez in 2007