Architecture
Using revenue from two of the ferry services across the Rhine, Kunsthalle Basel was built between 1869 and 1872 based on a design by Johann Jakob Stehlin-Burckhardt. The artists Arnold Böcklin, Carl Brünner, Ernst Stückelberg and Charles Iguel contributed the architectural adornment of the building. The ground floor of the building was dedicated to serve as an artist’s clubhouse (today Kunsthalle Basel Restaurant).
By 1927, the building had been extended several times to additionally house a workshop for sculptors and a sculpture hall (today STADTKINO Basel). Between 1969 and 1973 the Kunsthalle underwent a first period of renovation. The library, whose inventory goes back to the founding year of the Kunstverein and today has a focus on contemporary art publications, in 1992 has been installed permanently in the rooms of the former caretaker apartment. In 2004, the Steinberg building underwent further, major renovations executed by the architects Miller & Maranta, with the intent of both restoring its former glory and simultaneously updating it in an attempt to prolong its relevance in the art and architecture world. In the same instance, the Swiss Architecture Museum S AM moved into the first floor of the building.
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