Kolumba
Kolumbastraße 4
D-50667 Köln
tel +49 (0)221 9331930
fax +49 (0)221 93319333


»Not only a great building, but a synthesis of the aesthetic and the ascetic. Peter Zumthor's design gives space for reflection. There is no cafe or gift shop to speak of. The few windows are inward-looking, as are we while we focus on the art within. Built over the ruins of a bombed church, this modern building allows its history to breathe. Allow yourself to be seduced and taken on a journey that will satisfy your soul.« (Readers' tips: modern art galleries. The best places to get your fill of culture, from a giant sculpture garden in the Netherlands to contemporary art in an Italian palazzo, The Guardian, 17.1.2011)

"Looking at what Zumthor has achieved in Cologne, it's difficult to imagine how anyone could have better dealt with such a challenging situation. Kolumba, not being halfway up an Alp, is his most accessible work to date. The building engulfs the entire site, enclosing the gothic ruins and historic foundations, putting two floors of galleries above Böhm's chapel on the ground floor. It's all finished off with a unifying skin of brick, and not just any old brick. A long, thin, rough-textured greyish-brown variety developed in Denmark, it is laid in neat courses, although the bricks do vary in length. This seamlessly fuses with the outer walls of the ruined church, recreating its former mass. …The result is serene yet stimulating. In fact, so seamlessly executed is the whole that, at times, it's hard to separate the building and the art. You might just as well admire the wood-panelling in the reading room as the Rhenish Madonnas on the wall. Or marvel at the way the huge windows are positioned so as to create a glow of light around each corner, and also capture views of the cathedral and the surrounding city. If anything, there's too much to worship here: the art, God, history, the city beyond, the architecture, and, by extension, the mighty Zumthor himself." (Steve Rose, The perforated palace, The Guardian, 19.11.2007)
Art museum of the
Archdiocese of Cologne

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KOLUMBA :: Reviews :: The Guardian

»Not only a great building, but a synthesis of the aesthetic and the ascetic. Peter Zumthor's design gives space for reflection. There is no cafe or gift shop to speak of. The few windows are inward-looking, as are we while we focus on the art within. Built over the ruins of a bombed church, this modern building allows its history to breathe. Allow yourself to be seduced and taken on a journey that will satisfy your soul.« (Readers' tips: modern art galleries. The best places to get your fill of culture, from a giant sculpture garden in the Netherlands to contemporary art in an Italian palazzo, The Guardian, 17.1.2011)

"Looking at what Zumthor has achieved in Cologne, it's difficult to imagine how anyone could have better dealt with such a challenging situation. Kolumba, not being halfway up an Alp, is his most accessible work to date. The building engulfs the entire site, enclosing the gothic ruins and historic foundations, putting two floors of galleries above Böhm's chapel on the ground floor. It's all finished off with a unifying skin of brick, and not just any old brick. A long, thin, rough-textured greyish-brown variety developed in Denmark, it is laid in neat courses, although the bricks do vary in length. This seamlessly fuses with the outer walls of the ruined church, recreating its former mass. …The result is serene yet stimulating. In fact, so seamlessly executed is the whole that, at times, it's hard to separate the building and the art. You might just as well admire the wood-panelling in the reading room as the Rhenish Madonnas on the wall. Or marvel at the way the huge windows are positioned so as to create a glow of light around each corner, and also capture views of the cathedral and the surrounding city. If anything, there's too much to worship here: the art, God, history, the city beyond, the architecture, and, by extension, the mighty Zumthor himself." (Steve Rose, The perforated palace, The Guardian, 19.11.2007)