Baerbel Mueller and Juergen Strohmayer create raised concrete gallery in Accra
by Stu Robarts | 23 Mar 2020
The monolithic materiality of exposed concrete and the reduced colorscape of the new gallery and campus create a backdrop for colorful exhibitions.
– Baerbel Mueller & Juergen Strohmayer
– Baerbel Mueller & Juergen Strohmayer
Baerbel Mueller and Juergen Strohmayer have created a new gallery for the Nubuke Foundation art centre in Accra, Ghana, that hovers over the existing garden.
The centre, which was founded in 2007 and has a sister site in the Ghanaian town of Wa, hosts programmes supporting the arts, culture, and heritage of the country.
The Nubuke Extended project was aimed at expanding the site to create a cultural and civic hub for Accra.
The new gallery is a concrete-built, single-room volume raised up on pillars with a mezzanine, ceiling heights and walls used in such a way as to create a variety of spaces for exhibitions, performances, and events.
It was also designed in such a way as to frame the central green area of the centre's garden, which features an Indian almond tree at its centre, and a floor-to-ceiling window at one end allows natural light into the space.
"The monolithic materiality of exposed concrete and the reduced colourscape of the new gallery and campus create a backdrop for colourful exhibitions and activities to take place in and around the buildings," explained Mueller and Strohmayer.
"Nubuke Extended was designed to be cosmopolitan in terms of character and ambition, inviting and provocative at the same time, for both local and regional programmatic scenarios."
In addition to the construction of the new gallery, the centre's existing building has been opened up to become a co-working environment and there are other new spaces for artists, cultural activists and audiences.
Baerbel Mueller Juergen Strohmayer art gallery art gallery Nubuke Foundation Accra Ghana
The new gallery is a concrete-built, single-room volume raised up on pillars / Julien Lanoo
It hovers over the existing garden of the Nubuke Foundation / Julien Lanoo
A large floor-to-ceiling window at one end allows natural light into the space / Julien Lanoo
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