Culture

The artistic legacy of constructivism – including the works of Zürich’s Max Bill, Camille Graeser and others – found a home in the boxy Haus Konstruktiv, a former power plant and now a protected historical site. Since it was founded in 1986, the institution has promoted constructivist, concrete and conceptual art through both a permanent collection and temporary exhibitions. 

A key piece in the collection, which comprises more than 800 works from the 20th and 21st centuries, is Fritz Glarner’s colourful walk-through painting “Rockefeller Dining Room” on the fourth floor. There’s also a roomy foyer that’s often used for events, plus a steel attic that houses a library and a space for art education.

Founded in 1875, the Museum für Gestaltung is among the world’s oldest and most expansive design museums. Its permanent collection of more than 500,000 objects is divided into design, applied art, graphics and poster sections. The museum also hosts numerous exhibitions each year, encompassing single designer retrospectives and broad thematic surveys. 

The museum has two bases: one in the Toni-Areal – formerly Europe’s largest milk-processing plant – and another, which reopened in 2018, on Ausstellungsstrasse. The second building, a major example of the New Objectivity of the 1930s, is used for temporary exhibitions and collection displays.

Few dealers shape contemporary art today as much as husband-and-wife duo Iwan and Manuela Wirth. Founded in 1992 by the couple, together with Manuela’s mother Ursula, their gallery Hauser & Wirth now spans seven branches from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and maintains a strong presence in its home city of Zürich. 

The Wirths represent an extraordinary diversity of living practitioners and artists’ estates – marquee names include Phyllida Barlow, Jenny Holzer, Isa Genzken, Pierre Huyghe and Rashid Johnson. The two-storey space in the Löwenbräu-Areal hosts single-artist showcases and occasional museum-quality group shows.