Kunsthaus Graz
Kunsthaus Graz is a modern art museum located on the west bank of the River Mur in the historic centre of Graz, Austria. It was designed and built as part of the 2003 European Capital of Culture celebrations and has since become a city landmark, popularly known as the 'Friendly Alien'.
Its design was a collaboration between two professors from the Bartlett School of Architecture, Colin Fournier and Peter Cook, formerly the leader of the Archigram group that acquired a reputation for unusual urban design concepts in the 1960s.
The designers adopted an innovative style known as blobitecture or 'blob architecture' to create the building's organic, amoeba-shaped form with 'spouts' projecting from the roof, that stands out in stark contrast to its more traditional surroundings. The glazed outer skin is constructed from 1,288 iridescent blue acrylic panels.
The skin generates energy through the use of integrated photovoltaic panels as a result of which, its environmental impact is very low. The skin also forms a 'BIX Façade' screen, capable of displaying interactive media using the 900 computer-controlled fluorescent lamps fitted beneath the surface.
See more from the Unusual Building Design of the Week series.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Architectural styles.
- Blobitecture.
- Building of the week series.
- Centro Eventi Multifunzionale, Italy.
- Dali Theatre and Museum.
- Dancing House, Prague.
- Gentle Genius.
- Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao.
- Habitat 67.
- Lotus Temple.
- Luxor Las Vegas.
- Nexus.
- Rose Museum.
- St. Basil's Cathedral.
- Sage Gateshead.
- Switch House, Tate Modern.
- Tallest buildings in the world.
- The Gherkin.
- The Mile.
- The Oculus.
- Titanic Belfast.
- Unusual building design of the week.
- Zenith de Strasbourg.
[edit] External references
- Museum Joanneum - Official site
Featured articles and news
Introducing or next Guest Editor Arun Baybars
Practising architect and design panel review member.
Types of rapidly renewable content
From forestry to agricultural crops and their by-products.
Terraced houses and the public realm
The discernible difference between the public realm of detached housing and of terraced housing.
Put digitalisation and sustainability at the core of curricula
Project management educators are urged.
Looking back at the influence of climate events
From a designer and writer: 'There are limits to growth but no limits to development'.
Terms, histories, theories and practice.
Biophilic design and natural light
Letting in the light and natural elements into spaces.
APM Programme Management Conference 2024
Strategies for Success.
Residential takes the reins as contract awards even out
Contracts down, but remain above the last quarter of 2023.
Celebrating Eid and the largest mud-brick building.
Barry Kingscote claims prestigious CIOB CMYA Award.
The British Mosque: an architectural and social history
The story of some 1,500 mosques or more in Britain.
Heat pump refrigerants, efficiencies and impacts
R12 to R1270 what are the differences?
Global heat pump market in 2023
Challenging times with positive but modest outlook.
Beyond the infrastructure pipeline
Opportunities and chokepoints.