Museums with unique architecture

The Schütz Art Museum in Engelhartszell is home to Irene and Josef Schütz's collection of around 600 paintings and more than 30 sculptures. The museum building directly on the Danube provides the perfect setting for these works. It was designed by Linz architect Thomas Blazek as the world's first zero-energy museum and is closely modelled on the Chinese principles of Feng Shui. Around the spacious staircase, which symbolises the connection between heaven and earth, the building develops as a generous open space. This means that all the exhibition rooms have daylight.

Since 2003, the Lentos Art Museum has shaped the cultural mile along the Danube in Upper Austria's capital Linz. The Swiss architects Weber & Hofer have created a building that boldly spans an open space. From a distance, this extended entrance area, the "sculpture hall", looks like a picture frame that duly sets off the Linz shining through behind it. The illuminated glass façade of the Lentos interacts with the Ars Electronica Center on the opposite bank of the Danube to create the night-time impression of Linz. The Lentos Art Museum houses an internationally important collection of modern and contemporary art, which is shown off to its best advantage in the spacious exhibition hall flooded with natural light.

As the "Museum of the Future", the Ars Electronica Center Linz has always set itself a higher standard than simply showcasing the technology of tomorrow. The aim here is to make the rapid technological development of our time tangible and at the same time to pose the question of what impact this progress will have on our society. TREUSCH architecture set itself the task of building a house for the future in the course of extending the existing museum building, which was completed in 2008. The new building and the existing building were merged into a single unit. The translucent structure of the steel and glass façade gives the building a light appearance and blends it perfectly into the urban landscape on the Danube.

The history of Linz Castle is chequered. From the imperial residence to its use as barracks and prison. In 1800, the south wing of the castle burnt down. Since 1965, the castle has been the home of the Upper Austrian State Museums. It grew to become Austria's largest universal museum at a single location. In 2009, the HoG Architektur office gave the castle a new south wing and created a perfect fusion of historical substance and modernity. As light as a feather, the shimmering metallic building seems to float above the massive fortress wall of the castle. Linz has thus not only gained another striking museum building, but also a first-class vantage point directly above the roofs of the old town.

What would Linz be without its steel industry? In a multimedia and interactive exhibition, voestalpine Stahlwelt shows what steel production with modern technologies means and what this material is actually capable of. The interior of the building is modelled on a giant steel crucible through which visitors find their way through the exhibition, which also delights with light and sound effects. On the outside, the Steel World, which was completed in 2009 and designed by the architects Schremmer-Jell, presents itself as an angled structure that fits seamlessly and coherently into the surrounding industrial landscape with office towers, gasometers and production facilities.

Over a period of 30 years, Heinz Angerlehner has built up an impressive private collection of works of contemporary art. The decision to make his own works - with a focus on painting from 1950 onwards - accessible to the public was followed by the conversion of a former industrial workshop in Thalheim near Wels into the Angerlehner Museum, which was completed in 2013. The museum building planned by Wolf Architektur with exhibition and event areas allows the industrial past of the original building to remain tangible. The dark metal façade conceals an impressive 1,200 square metre exhibition hall. It is one of the largest column-free exhibition halls in Austria.

Bread is more than just a daily staple. Elevated in religious myths, as an object of politics and a coveted pleasure, it has shaped human cultural history since the dawn of civilisation. PANEUM - the Chamber of Wonders of Bread shows art and cultural objects from a period of 9,000 years - an exciting and varied journey through the history of bread. The framework for this impressive collection was created by the architects Coop Himmelb(l)au. Completed and opened in 2017, the PANEUM resembles an unfolding silver cloud. Visitors can access the exhibits via a spiral staircase inside.

When technology awakens emotions, the motorbikes from KTM in Mattighofen, Innvietrtel, are at the forefront. How is a motorbike developed to series maturity in the 21st century? What are the legendary machines from the Innviertel and who piloted them to their greatest racing successes? The answers to these and other questions can be found at the KTM Motohall at the company's headquarters. The exhibition building, which will open in 2019 and was planned by the architectural firms Hofbauer, Liebmann, Wimmesberger and X Architekten, documents a chapter of Upper Austrian industrial and economic history. Designed as a large ellipse, the Motohall visualises dynamics, speed and movement on a race track.

Upper Austria is a land of museums and exhibition halls. The Association of Upper Austrian Museums lists 303 museums, ranging from classical art houses to local history museums to corporate adventure worlds. Some of them stand out from this large number not only because of their extraordinary collections but also because of their architecture and design. They set urban accents and are architectural statements by their operators.

Overview of the museums and galleries