Les Arts Cultural Center, CH-Gstaad
The Menuhin Festival, held annually in Gstaad, is currently spread out between a festival tent and the surrounding village churches. With the new cultural center “Les Arts Gstaad,” the tent will be replaced by a concert hall befitting this internationally renowned festival. A museum featuring rotating art exhibitions and additional spaces for conferences and social events will complement the concert hall, creating a cultural and community center.
Gstaad is characterized primarily by a landscape of small, chalet-style buildings. This is interspersed with a few larger tourist structures. This distinctive quality, which is worth preserving, gives the village its modest and tranquil character. The only designated public street space in Gstaad is the pedestrian promenade located in the village center. Parallel to this, behind the train station, is “Les Arts Gstaad.”
The main pedestrian access to the cultural center runs from the promenade along Bahnhofsstrasse, crossing the tracks at ground level. In front of it, a new structure flanking the building creates a defined public square — Menuhin Square — that reflects the significance of the Menuhin Festival. “Les Arts Gstaad” is divided into three building volumes, with each program component (museum, foyer/restaurant, concert hall) represented by a separate structure.
The individual volumes reflect the scale of Gstaad’s hotel buildings and, thanks to their granularity, integrate the cultural center into the town’s existing structures. The entire complex forms an urban ensemble grouped around a plaza-like terrace. Each part of the complex has a specific orientation to accommodate the varying site conditions. A dramatic sequence of staged spaces guides concertgoers from the entrance to their entry into the concert hall.
