Architecture | Kjaer & Richter’s Expansion for the CLAY Museum, Denmark

Contemporary ceramic art has a handsome new home at the CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark. Studio Kjaer & Richter completed an expansion on the Middelfart museum in 2015, creating a confident building that is on friendly terms with the surrounding Kongebro forest. After browsing more than 1,500 square meters of ceramics, including very rare pieces such as a 235-year-old plate from the Royal Copenhagen porcelain collection, visitors can relax at the back of the museum with a breathtaking view over the Lillebælt sea.

The studio told ArchDaily that most of the expansion is located underground and connects to an existing building. The whole of the museum is built on a gradual slope toward the sea. From behind, the museum appears to rise from the landscape as a pavilion. Architects frequently deal with the question of how to create a modern building within constraints of historic neighborhoods. That wasn’t the case here, but the museum did have to be on friendly terms with the surrounding forest. For that goal Kjaer & Richter used bricks that have an almost maroon color. The muted hue blends in easily with the surrounding trees. The designers state that the bricks are on partitions that can be opened or closed to let light in or out.

The natural theme carries on into the exhibition space. White walls and vitrines housing hundreds of specimens of contemporary ceramic art harmonize with the wood floor, with its exposed grain and soft, almost cream-colored tone. It’s a blessing to see our favored material housed in such a modern and tasteful museum and we look forward to seeing what CLAY turns out for us in the future.

What do you think of this haven for contemporary ceramic art? Let us know in the comments.