KKL Luzern (Culture and Congress Centre Lucerne)
Jean Nouvel's lakeside concert hall and congress centre, principal home of Lucerne Festival.
The Culture and Congress Centre Lucerne stands beside the railway station at the point where the river Reuss leaves Lake Lucerne. It was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel after an international competition and opened in stages between 1998 and 2000, replacing an earlier congress house of 1933 by Armin Meili. The defining element is a vast cantilevered roof that projects over the square and the water, with narrow canals drawn in beneath it from the lake.
The complex contains a concert hall of about 1,840 seats, developed with the acoustician Russell Johnson, whose adjustable reverberation chamber and movable canopy let the room be tuned for different repertoire. Beside it are the smaller Lucerne Hall, a congress wing and meeting rooms, while the Kunstmuseum Luzern occupies the upper floor. The building is the main venue of Lucerne Festival and the home of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra; guided tours explain its architecture and acoustics.
Highlights
- Cantilevered copper-edged roof reaching out over the lakeside square
- Concert hall of some 1,840 seats with an adjustable reverberation chamber
- Main venue of Lucerne Festival and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra
- Kunstmuseum Luzern occupies the upper floor of the same building
