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The picturesque old town-areas of Krems and Stein are simply magnificent, says architect Bernhard Marte, and the chance to build there has been a great gift to him. The emotional proximity to achievements of past centuries has led to a design that integrates into the townscape with great sensitivity. The central feature of the State Gallery of Lower Austria, its rotation, connects two directions of movement — towards the historic city center and the Danube —at a place where visitors can soon explore the treasures of Kunstmeile Krems.
Bathed in light, the State Gallery of Lower Austria welcomes visitors with wide arches that form a prelude to their museum experience. A tour of the new four-story building crosses 3,000 square meters of exhibition spaces and leads to a presentation area in the basement, which connects the State Gallery of Lower Austria with the Kunsthalle Krems.

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marte.marte
architects

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As freshly minted architecture graduates from Innsbruck, brothers Bernhard and Stefan Marte founded Marte.Marte Architects in Weiler, Vorarlberg, in 1993. They have since won numerous competitions and international awards. Aside from State Gallery of Lower Austria, other large projects are under construction, such as the exhibition and documentation center of the Federal Foundation Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation in Berlin, as well as a new exhibition center in Dornbirn. At the 2016 Architecture Biennale in Venice, Marte.Marte’s solo presentation was the only Austrian contribution to the main exhibition. Currently, their show “Appearing Sculptural,” which launched at the Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin, is successfully touring cities in Germany and Austria. Buildings designed by Marte.Marte Architects are distinguished by the duo’s principled approach of always thinking from scratch. The solutions they create convey a deep appreciation of the respective place and a consistent desire to reduce things to the truly essential.
buildings (selection)
Landesgalerie Niederösterreich | Krems, 2019
Messehallen 9–12 | Dornbirn, 2017
Diözesanmuseum Kärnten | Fresach, 2010/2011
Schaufelschluchtbrücke Ebnit | Dornbirn, 2011/2012
Schutzhütte im Laternsertal | Laterns, 2010/2012
Sonderpädagogisches Zentrum | Dornbirn, 2008/2011
Schulzentrum Grieskirchen | Grieskirchen, 2003/2011
Alfenz-Brücke | Lorüns, 2009/2010
Landessonderschule Mariatal | Kramsach, 2003/2007
Pathologie Landeskrankenhaus | Feldkirch, 2003/2007
credits:
- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich 2019 photo: Ingo Wakolbinger
- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, 2019 photo: Faruk Pinjo
- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, 2019 photo: eSeL - Lorenz Seidler
- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, 2019 photo: Roland Horn
- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, 2019 photo: Roland Horn
- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, 2019 photo: Roland Horn
- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, 2019 photo: Roland Horn
- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, 2019 photo: Roland Horn
- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, 2019 photo: Roland Horn