Fondation Beyeler opens Zumthor park buildings with sculpture you can hear
The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, near Basel in Switzerland, is opening a new park campus by Atelier Peter Zumthor alongside concerts where a sculpture becomes a musical instrument.
The museum will stage 'Calder Piece by Earle Brown' on 26 and 27 September 2026, at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. each day. The French percussion group Les Percussions de Strasbourg will perform the work, which lasts about 25 minutes. Admission is included in museum entry, with no booking needed, according to the museum.
The timing links old and new. The original Fondation Beyeler museum, designed by Renzo Piano and opened in 1997, sits in landscaped grounds. The extension is built out in those gardens, reported Dezeen on 24 September 2026.
No big block. The team split the brief in three.
Rather than put all functions in one building, Atelier Peter Zumthor scattered three separate houses across the park. The practice worked with Vogt Landscape Architects on the planting and paths. Restored historic structures sit beside the new buildings, reported DesignBoom.
The largest of the three is the Wyss Museum. It rises over three storeys in a Y-shaped plan, a shape chosen to leave existing trees in place. Its walls are made from rammed concrete, a construction method where layers of material are compacted in formwork, mixed here with Jura limestone aggregate that gives the facades a warm yellow colour.
Inside, the galleries look straight out to leaves and treetops through large windows. The same Jura limestone returns in the terrazzo flooring, a speckled stone composite, as well as in a solid stone staircase and benches.
The second building is the Ammann Pavilion. It is single-storey and planned as a public lounge and venue for performances, talks and film screenings. Glass walls set in oak frames open the room to the park, while the interior is lined in cherry and pear wood. Stepped flooring runs through the space and doubles as seating for audiences.
The third building is the Erlen Torhaus. It holds art logistics and offices and links back to the existing museum by an underground corridor. Deliveries are handled on the ground floor, which is clad in varnished oak, while workspaces above have large windows over the surroundings.
The project also opens up land that visitors could not enter before. A historic landscape garden that was previously private is becoming publicly accessible as part of the park, the museum says. The Fondation Beyeler describes the scheme as an ensemble of museum buildings with new spaces for art and events and a large public park.
Public access will arrive in stages. The expanded campus will begin opening in autumn 2026 and will be fully accessible in January 2027, reported ArchDaily.
What makes this stand out for a weekend visit is the pairing. You can walk between concrete, glass and timber buildings in the trees, then sit down to hear metal struck, scraped and rung. Alexander Calder made the sculpture 'Chef d'orchestre' specifically to be played as an instrument in Earle Brown's composition, the museum says, so the audience hears the artwork as well as sees it.
