The New Fotomuseum Winterthur!

For 30 years, Fotomuseum Winterthur has captured the imagination of photography enthusiasts around the world. However, visitor needs and the demands placed on a modern museum have changed in recent years. The museum’s new building project and programme of renovation and redevelopment are geared to the vision that has been set out to create a museum of the future. During the renovation phase from June 2023 to spring 2025, the exhibition spaces at Grüzenstrasse 44 will remain closed, however, we will offer a variety of events, workshops and digital encounters.

Update: December 2024

The new building and renovation project of Fotomuseum Winterthur continues to progress. In the visitor area, final work is being completed in the new exhibition hall, the education rooms with our new photo lab and the foyer with lounge area and museum shop. The cloakrooms and toilet facilities in the basement have been installed, as well as the kitchen for museum operations. Major progress has also been made in areas that are not accessible to visitors but are central to the running of the museum. For example, the lifting platform for transporting goods from the ground floor to the basement has been installed.

In recent months, the structural work has been completed; the roof has been restored, the photovoltaic system installed and all the windows and doors fitted. In addition, the front building of the museum has been painted, which will one day be a real eye-catcher with its petrol-coloured façade, which is currently still covered in scaffolding.

The entire building technology, including heating and ventilation as well as electrical, air conditioning and sanitary facilities, is currently being finalised. It will be put into operation at the end of January 2025.

The handover and move back into the building are planned for the end of the first quarter of 2025. In the weeks between moving back in and the reopening of the museum on 17 May 2025, the workshop, offices and publicly accessible areas will be set up and the opening exhibition will be installed.

Update: June 2024

The new construction and renovation work at Fotomuseum Winterthur is progressing week by week. By the end of 2023, the residential building on Töpferstrasse has been demolished to make space for the museum extension, the foundations for the extension have been laid and the existing (brick) building has been almost completely gutted. In the meantime, the following further milestones have been achieved:

the timber construction work required for the museum extension has been completed
all the floors in the entire interior have been reinstalled
the structural work is in its final stages

In the following weeks and months, the focus is on the completion of the interior so that the electrical, sanitary and building services work can be proceeded with.

Despite the complex circumstances and sometimes challenging conditions, the project is proceeding on schedule. The reopening of the museum is planned for May 2025.

Update: December 2023

In June 2023, the moment arrived: together with our visitors, we said goodbye to the Fotomuseum Winterthur premises at Grüzenstrasse 44. The building was cleared. All the materials – from documents and office furniture to equipment from the photo lab and items from the workshop – were put in storage, and the team moved into temporary office space.

The official ground-breaking ceremony took place in mid-July 2023 to mark the start of the implementation phase of the project. Since then, we have already reached several milestones that give cause for celebration:

Extension
The residential building on Töpferstrasse has been demolished to make space for the digging and laying of the foundations for the museum extension. This will, at some point, be used to house contemporary exhibition formats.

Existing building
The existing (brick) building has been almost completely gutted. In the coming months the space will be reorganised and urgent work carried out to upgrade the climate-control system and enhance security and fire protection.

New entrance area
The ceiling has been knocked through to the first floor to create the new, two-storey foyer. This enlarged foyer with its open quality will give the museum’s new entrance area an inviting sense of spaciousness.

Spaces for educational activities
Work is moving forward on the lab facilities and the spaces that will be used for educational purposes. Education will be directly integrated into the new museum’s ground-floor activities, thus giving it a higher profile.

Despite the complex circumstances and sometimes challenging conditions, the project is proceeding on schedule.

In 2017 and 2018, a study was done of the museum’s immovable property. This revealed shortcomings in the ageing infrastructure, with an impact on climate control, safety and fire protection. To address these issues, Fotomuseum Winterthur is planning to renovate and redevelop the existing building. As part of these measures, an extension will be built that will satisfy the requirements of a modern museum.

The planned changes to the structure will provide space for new exhibition and event formats with an experimental approach. Communication with visitors, cultural participation and discursive formats will become even more of a focus: the museum will become a vibrant place of encounter.

Visualisation of the new Fotomuseum Winterthur © Nightnurse Images

Planning permission for the project was granted at the end of 2021. The new construction work and renovation phase will run from June 2023 to spring 2025. During this time the exhibition spaces at Grüzenstrasse 44 will be closed. However, Fotomuseum Winterthur will host an exhibition in the rooms of Fotostiftung Schweiz in 2024 and invite visitors to events, workshops, excursions and digital encounters. Detailed information on our programme can be found on our website.

Numerous educational programmes will continue to be offered for schools and groups. In the photo lab you can discover different photographic techniques such as camera obscura or photograms and within the framework of offers in the area of image and media competence, you get to know current photographic developments and delve into topics such as fake news or self-portrayal on the internet. You can find more information here.

Fotostiftung Schweiz will be open regularly throughout the renovation phase and will present a varied programme of exhibitions, events and workshops.

Why the structural changes?

Need for renovation
The building will be converted to meet the relevant standards in safety, fire protection and energy usage and the work areas will be upgraded and tailored to modern-day requirements.

Focus on education
In future, education will assume a key role: it will be directly integrated into the museum’s activities and thus become an even more high-profile feature of our programme.

Optimised operations
The museum will optimise and make full use of the space at its disposal, eliminating the congestion that is currently a concern for users.

New exhibition space
The potential for using the exhibition and event spaces will be exploited to the full, with the new rooms offering flexibility and the best possible conditions for contemporary and experimental formats.

New foyer area
Enlarging and opening up the foyer area will create a sense of expansiveness, generating a welcoming environment that will connect the museum activities with the outdoor space.

Transparency and openness
The building’s new feeling of spaciousness will create an inviting atmosphere that will make the museum more open and transparent, both inwardly and outwardly.

Vibrancy
The building measures will give the museum an appealing sense of openness and an attractive presence that will feed into a modern institutional image.

An enhanced Center for Photography
The shared outdoor space will reinforce the connection between Fotomuseum Winterthur and Fotostiftung Schweiz, making the Center for Photography more recognisable as an institution.

Project team

Commissioning client

Stiftung Fotomuseum Winterthur
Grüzenstrasse 44+45
8400 Winterthur

Architecture

RWPA Architekten GmbH
Lagerplatz 6
8400 Winterthur

Project management

Topik Partner AG
Zeltweg 26
8032 Zurich

Construction management

Dürsteler Bauplaner GmbH
Rudolf Diesel-Strasse 3
8404 Winterthur

Structural engineering

Preisig F. AG
Obere Kirchgasse 2
8400 Winterthur

Electrical engineering

Marquart Elektroplanung + Beratung AG
Neuwiesenstrasse 62
8400 Winterthur

HVAC engineering

Balzer Ingenieure AG
Schützenstrasse 3
8400 Winterthur

Building physics

A und b bauphysik gmbh
Lagerplatz 24
8400 Winterthur

Fire protection

B-Planing AG
Ingenieure und Brandschutzplaner
Lohstrasse 13
8362 Balterswil

Property management

Setimmo Immobilien GmbH
Turnerstrasse 1
8401 Winterthur

Landscape architecture

Robin Winogrond
Landschaftsarchitektur und Urban Design
Hardturmstrasse 122a
8005 Zürich

Planning light

matí Lichgestaltung
Webereistrasse 68
8134 Adliswil

Planning shop

Andreas Widmer GmbH
In den Schorenmatten 236
4058 Basel

Planning offices

Büro Schoch Werkhaus AG
Zürcherstrasse 21
8401 Winterthur

Balladen zum Abschied

In July 2023, we bid farewell to our premises together with our visitors before the museum temporarily closed its doors. Alongside artists and musicians, we invited the public to join us for visuals, music and encounters and filled the exhibition spaces with large-format photographs, expansive installations and sound performances, bringing the building to life once again.

Photographer Nicolas Polli presented his work Dear Moment, I Keep U for Later, consisting of photographs that – stored on hard drives and almost forgotten – had been waiting for years to make their grand entrance. Polli mounted the images on room-filling wooden structures, crafted from materials he had found during explorations of the museum’s workshop and storage areas.

With their work artists Sara Bezovšek, Dina Kelberman and Simone C. Niquille provided insights into the [permanent beta] project; an experimental laboratory at the intersection of research and practice which continues Fotomuseum Winterthur’s exploration of algorithmic and networked images and visual cultures. Davide-Christelle Sanvee engaged in a dialogue with the museum’s architecture with a performance, investigating the concept of the so-called white cube. Musical entertainment was provided by yodelling trio Heimetvögel, afrofuturism electronica pop duo OY and afrobeats by AKUAKU.