Borås new art museum

Abstract

In 2021, the Board of Culture presented a new development strategy for Borås as a city of art. In part, it investigated the possibilies and benefits of a new public building in the city dedicated to art, that would supersede the existing building of Borås Konstmuseum on P A Halls terrass. Two years later, in 2023, a feasibility study for a new museum was published, outlining in further detail the scope and ambitions of a possible future project. This thesis aims to take the next step in the development of the idea of a new art museum by developing a design proposal at Krokshallstorget in central Borås. During the last decades, the city of Borås has come to identify increasingly as a city of art. Perhaps most noticeable are the investments in public art around the city, which was kickstarted by the installation in 2008 of a sculpture titled Walking to Borås - known colloquially as Pinoccio - by the american artist Jim Dine. It also marked the opening of the first installment of the Borås Sculpture Biennial, which has since broadened its range and become the Borås Art Biennial, incorporating other forms of arts, such as murals that have also become increasingly present in the city. This master’s thesis contributes to the ongoing discussion around a new art museum in Borås by investigating the architecture of the contemporary art museum nationally and internationally and tries to specify how a similar architecture can be developed for the city of Borås. The ambition as it is formulated in the feasability study of 2023 is to elevate the position of the museum in the city and increase its national and international force of attraction. The new museum will incorporate a number of different types of exhibitions, ranging from contemporary art to photography and collections of paintings and sculpture. The site at Krokshallstorget was chosen from a short-list of sites suggested in the development strategy. The choice was made because of the site’s central location and interesting urban condition on the border of the historical city grid. The site sits on the edge of the river Viskan that runs through Borås and is one of the city’s most prominent features. The ambition is to turn one of the most misused sites in the city into a public space for art, and in doing so, give Borås a proper symbol for its new identity in the 21st century: a city of art.