Switzerland Guide
Luzern
The KKL
On a plum waterfront site stands Luzern's pride and joy, the multifunctional Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Luzern, known as the KKL (pronounced "kaka-el"). Within such a traditional-looking and -thinking city, Jean Nouvel's landmark architecture in glass and steel is a revelation. Reflecting pools all around draw the lake into the building, as an immense cantilevered roof floats high above. The atmosphere of the place changes according to the weather conditions: standing on the lakeside apron during a storm – exposed yet protected by the roof – is quite an experience.
On the station side rises a huge, glazed block, fenced in by an all-enveloping steel cage and penetrating deep beneath the dark roof; this is the Kongresszentrum wing, with a bistro at ground level and the Kunstmuseum on the top floor. Beside it, at the centre of the complex, is the Luzernersaal, a small hall used for concerts or meetings, with a drinks terrace atop its foyer. The easterly third of the complex is the Konzertsaal, one of the world's most acoustically advanced concert halls, and the principal venue for the Lucerne Festival.
On the top floor of the KKL's Kongresszentrum wing is the Kunstmuseum (Tues– Sun 10am–5pm, Wed until 8pm; longer hours in Aug & Sept; Fr.10; www.kunstmuseumluzern.ch). Lifts take you up to the ticket desk (press button "K"). The permanent collection – less-than-stunning canvases by Swiss artists of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, displayed in the first half-dozen rooms – is overshadowed both by the ground-breaking exhibitions of avant-garde contemporary art held in the dozen or so rooms beyond, and by the breathtaking architecture: more than once you cross between galleries on slender catwalks high up in the building's interior, bathed in natural and artificial light with the reflecting pools far below.
Website: www.kkl-luzern.ch