David Chipperfield completed the second phase of construction of the Carmen Wurth Forum in the southern German city of Kunzelsau.A flexible conference area and an art museum extend the existing concert hall and large event hall, opened in 2017. The diverse range of functions further establishes the complex’s conceptual idea of a forum and allows the building to be open continuously, in particular, due to its use as a museum.

The contemplative exhibition spaces, dedicated to exquisite pieces from the Wurth Collection, provide a counterpoint to the event spaces. The museum with its cafe and foyer includes a large, divisible exhibition hall with a daylight atmosphere and a smaller, more intimate graphics art gallery. Through a glazed belvedere, the museum opens up to the vast landscape and initiates a dialogue between the works of art and the place, continued in a sculpture park set in the scenic surroundings of the Carmen Wurth Forum.

The clear architecture of the forum adopts the forms and language of industrial architecture while refining it in terms of materiality. It seeks a sculptural engagement not only with the surrounding landscape but also with the clear forms of Wurth‘s company premises.