New details have been revealed of the €40 million extension of ARoS Art Museum in Aarhus, Denmark. Designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects in collaboration with artist James Turrell, the expansion project includes a new 1,400-square-meter (15,070-square-foot) underground gallery and two site-specific installations by Turrell that represent his largest museum project to date.
Named The Next Level, the project begins on the ground level of the museum, extending downward beneath the adjacent Officerspladsen plaza. The addition has been designed to work naturally with the flow of the existing building, which already serves as a bridge between the Aarhus River and the nearby Aarhus Music Hall. A 120-meter-long hallway will stretch down into the Earth connecting visitors the larger of the two Turrell installations, The Dome.
An expansion venue for performance art, The Dome will measure 40 meters in diameter by 17 meters in height, with the upper 9 meters popping out of the ground into the plaza. Like other examples in Turrell’s Skyspace series, the space will be capped with a large oculus connecting the subterranean to the sky, and will display a light show bathing the curved surfaces in a wash of color.
‘We are delighted to unveil plans for The Next Level and to be working on this ambitious project with James Turrell,” commented Erlend G. Høyersten, Director of the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum. “At ARoS, we know that art is indispensable to a lot of people and suspect that still more could benefit from it, because of its potential to impact a person’s outlook as well as their thinking.
“The Next Level will merge art and architecture, and will make the journey through the museum an engaging and enriching experience for the public. I like to think of the museum as a mental fitness centre and this extension will expand upon this idea.”
News via ARoS Art Museum
ARoS Art Museum Expansion Project: SHL Architects and James Turrell will Raise an Impressive Semi-Subterranean Dome in Aarhus
With the aim of creating a new civic experience at a central point in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, the ‘Next Level’ project by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects expands the interior capacity of the ARoS Art Museum through a 1,200 square meter subterranean gallery and a huge semi-subterranean dome.