The Beyeler Foundation museum came into being when arts patron and collector Ernst Beyeler decided to share his extraordinary art collection with the public. It was built in the park of the 18th-century Villa Berower, which houses the museum’s offices and a restaurant. Beyeler wanted the art to be lit entirely by natural light and the museum to be immersed in the surrounding greenery.
The building sits on a long and narrow plot of land dotted with centuries-old trees, bordered by a road at its eastern edge and to the west by cultivated fields that spread out over the entire valley.
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Some might argue that Piano sticks to a formula in many of his museums: wide glass windows, overhanging flat planes for roofs, etc. but in this case I think it serves the project well. There’s a nice balance between the dark and heavy stone dividing walls and the gallery spaces, which light up the reflecting pool below and the clerestory space above.
