THE WALLRAF IS BEING EXPANDED...
On 19 January 2001, the new Wallraf-Richartz Museum, designed by star architect Oswald Mathias Ungers (1926–2007), was opened. In the same year, Swiss entrepreneur Gérard J. Corboud and his wife Marisol bequeathed their extensive collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings to the Wallraf as a ‘permanent loan’. The Corboud Collection includes more than 170 paintings by masters such as Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Cézanne, Signac and Gauguin. In gratitude and honour of the donor couple, the museum has since been named the Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud.
In order to be able to present the Corboud collection in an adequate setting, the city of Cologne announced early on that it would provide a larger exhibition space. After many years of searching and planning, a separate extension is now being built on the neighbouring plot, which will provide the Wallraf with an additional 1,000 m² of exhibition space. The extraordinary brick building was designed by Swiss architects Christ & Gantenbein, who won the international architectural competition in 2013. This competition was made possible by the Foundation Council of the museum.
In future, the treasures of the Corboud Collection will be displayed in an appropriate setting on three floors. The public will be able to access this extension via an underground passageway from the ‘old’ Wallraf-Richartz Museum.
