peter zumthor's fondation beyeler extension set to progressively open starting this fall

FONDATION BEYELER UNVEILS FIRST IMAGES OF NEW museum EXTENSION

In Riehen near Basel, where the Fondation Beyeler sits between parkland, village streets, and the open edge of the Swiss landscape, Peter Zumthor’s long-awaited extension is preparing to enter public view. Beginning this autumn, the museum will gradually open its expanded ensemble, with the full opening scheduled for January 2027.

The project marks a major shift for the institution, extending the museum beyond Renzo Piano’s 1997 building and into a broader cultural landscape. A formerly private landmarked park will open to visitors, nearly doubling the size of the grounds and bringing century-old trees, ponds, and open meadows into the museum experience. The expansion also adds new exhibition space, event areas, restored historic structures, and new places for public programming.

Peter Zumthor’s new building extends Fondation Beyeler into the surrounding park | image © Mark Niedermann

peter zumthor’S new building JOINS renzo piano’s design

Architect Peter Zumthor’s contribution introduces a group of new buildings beside the existing Beyeler Museum. The Wyss Museum will provide new collection and exhibition spaces, giving the foundation more room to present its holdings alongside loans and recent acquisitions. Nearby, the Ammann Pavilion will host cultural events, while a separate logistics building supports the expanded museum operations.

The new ensemble also works with structures already on the site. Listed historic buildings are being restored and assigned new uses, with education studios, a music listening salon, a greenhouse, and a mini project space extending the foundation’s public programs beyond the gallery. In this setting, the expansion reads through a series of encounters across buildings and garden paths, instead of a single museum volume added beside the original.

image © Mark Niedermann

a year of exhibitions and public events

Fondation Beyeler will celebrate the opening over the course of a year, with exhibitions and events moving through the existing and newly expanded spaces. The museum’s collection will be presented with new acquisitions and loans from private collections, with displays changing seasonally across the ensemble.

The temporary program begins with a Ruth Asawa retrospective opening in October, followed by major solo exhibitions devoted to Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois, and Elizabeth Peyton. Alongside the exhibitions, the foundation will host concerts, performances, artist and architect talks, film screenings, botanical programs, music-listening sessions, and workshops, using the extension as a network of spaces for art and gathering.

the expanded ensemble will open progressively from autumn 2026 | image © Mark Niedermann

an extension shaped by parkland

First presented in 2017, Zumthor’s design grew from the acquisition of the neighboring Iselin-Weber Park and the chance to connect it with the existing grounds. The earlier plans described an extension made of several smaller buildings arranged along the site, a response to Riehen’s village scale and the museum’s garden setting.

With its gradual opening now approaching, the expanded Fondation Beyeler brings architecture, landscape, and exhibition-making into closer contact. The project adds square meters, but its larger gesture lies in the way the museum stretches outward, letting visitors move between art, historic buildings, new architecture, and a park that had long sat just beyond public reach.

The extension project of the Fondation Beyeler with Atelier Peter Zumthor New museum building (left) and pavillion (right), view from Berower Park | visualization courtesy Atelier Peter Zumthor

the extension project of the Fondation Beyeler with Atelier Peter Zumthor New museum building, view from Iselin-Weber Park. visualization courtesy Atelier Peter Zumthor