Museum Küppersmühle (MKM) is a Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art based in Duisburg's Inner Harbour. It houses the Ströher Collection. It is part of the Duisburg: Town and Harbour section of the Ruhr Industrial Heritage Trail.
Built in 1860 by leading local industrialist Wilhelm Vedder,[1] the original building was erected in 1860 with extensive redevelopment between 1908 and 1916. Steel silos were added in the 1930s. In 1969 the merger of Werner & Nicola Germania Mühlenwerke with the Küppers Mühlenwerken in Homberg gave rise to the name "Küppersmühle". The facility closed down in 1972.[2]
In 1999, a grant of DM35 million ($19 million) from the local authority in Duisburg was used to establish the Grothe Museum to display some of real estate developer[3] Hans Grothe's art collection.[4] The museum officially opened in April 1999.
From 1999, the original building was redesigned by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, using a masterplan devised by Norman Foster. After gutting the original industrial building an exhibition space of 3600m2 was created across three storeys. With 6-meter high ceilings, grey Turkish basalt natural daylight is provided by the ceiling-high window slits. The building is served by an external staircase attached to the original building.
From 2013 to 2021, Herzog & de Meuron planned and executed an 2500m2 extension.[5] Divided into three parts, the new addition contains exhibition halls, as well as utilities and art-handling facilities across five floors.[6]
Artist James Turrell created two permanent site-specific installations for the building, planned to be revealed in 2022. [7]