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The new extension to the Kunsthalle, the blue horse, jumps into the Wallanlagen park away from the old building of the Kunsthalle. The new Blaue Reiter wing of the Kunsthalle evokes the feeling of jumping into freedom from common ground. The iconic image of the Blaue Reiter represents the long lasting added value the Blaue Reiter exhibition in 1912 made to the city of Bremen. The Blaue Reiter and the existing Kunsthalle are spatially and functionally connected by a large spacious central hall at level -1, which is 4m above park level.

The public descends from the hall with the round atrium in the Kunsthalle to the new main hall under the deck from which the Blaue Reiter jumps out. The new central hall is directly acccesible from the new entrance deck on street level. From the main hall the public steps naturally in the fumicolare-style elevators, going up following the 60 degree slope of the sharp South-East corner of the Blaue Reiter. The right elevator overlooking the park is for the public, the right half of the fumicolare functions as the elevator for goods, functionally well connected to the delivery entrance, which is directly accessible from the street. From the main hall the public can go one level down to the restaurant, which opens up to the park. Library and adminstration are also placed at level -2, while storage and technique is located at level -3, directly connected the the upgraded basement of the old Kunsthalle.

The 4 new exhibition floors in the Blaue Reiter are essentially egg-shaped, creating a continuous wall for exhibiting paintings and a smooth backdrop for the sculptures, allowing no direct daylight into the exhibition spaces. Exterior to the exhibition spaces a double spiral creates multiple access, also serving as the second fire-escape route. In the top floor a skybar is overlooking the park and looking back to the existing Kunsthalle from a surprising elevated point of view.

The Blaue Reiter building is shaped as a dynamic sculpture, united seamlessly with the cover of the deck on groundfloor level. On the deck level two transparent smooth bumps in the skin indicate the position of the lecture hall and the main entrance hall directly below the deck. The Blaue Reiter emerges from the deck and juts out diagonally towards the the lake in the Wallanlagen park. The skin of the proposed Blaue Reiter is in a state of continuous gradient, transforming from completely closed but translucent - using light-transmitting concrete panels [made by LiTraCon] - to completely transparent glass panels. During the night the Blaue Reiter offers an intriguing sight both seen from the Wallanlagen park and as experienced from the street Am Wall.

Design: ONL [Oosterhuis_Lénárd]

Design team: Kas Oosterhuis, Ilona Lénárd, Sander Boer, Gijs Joosen, Cas Aalbers, Alessandro de Santis, Sanne Plomp, Luna Solas

Site:Bremen, Germany

Client: der Kunstverein in Bremen

Date: 2005