Stone and glass
Daylit volumes inside an old fortress outline.
Jean-noël Lafargue — CC BY 2.5 · Pudelek (Marcin Szala) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · GilPe — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gargarapalvin — CC BY-SA 4.0
Mudam is Luxembourg's major museum of contemporary art, opened in 2006 on the Kirchberg plateau north of the city, in a building designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei — the architect of the Louvre's glass pyramid. The architectural idea is a clever one: the museum is built on the foundations of Fort Thüngen, one of Luxembourg's old fortresses, and follows its three-sided plan. Pale sandstone, glass and naturally lit volumes make the building look entirely modern while its shape is dictated by an eighteenth-century fortification. The collection concentrates on art since the 1980s — installation, photography, video, design and digital media — and the temporary exhibitions change several times a year, so the content differs with when you come. The museum adjoins the Dräi Eechelen museum inside Fort Thüngen itself, and the two are visited together on one route.
Daylit volumes inside an old fortress outline.
Installation, video, design and digital media.
3 Park Dräi Eechelen, 1499 Luxembourg
Fort Thüngen and the Dräi Eechelen MuseumFort Thüngen stands on the edge of the Kirchberg plateau, and is known locally a1 minute walk4.6
The PhilharmonieThe Philharmonie on the Kirchberg plateau is among Luxembourg's most distinctive3 minutes walk4.7
Fort NiedergrünewaldThe remains of a fort from Luxembourg's fortification system on the Kirchberg pl6 minutes walk4.3
The Pétrusse CasematesThe Pétrusse Casemates are the second network of military tunnels beneath Luxemb7 minutes walk4.7
The Bock CasematesThe Bock Casemates are a network of tunnels cut inside the rock beneath the old 8 minutes walk4.5A district built from nothing since the 1960s on the plateau north of the valley to house European Union institutions — the Court of Justice, the European Investment Bank, Commission offices — along with banks, concert halls and museums. Its architecture is entirely contemporary glass, and the contrast with an old town minutes away is sharp and deliberate. The tram reaches it free from the station in about fifteen minutes.