在主體美術館的部份採用霧灰色玻璃牆面表現出一致性，到了夜晚開燈的時候，建築物外皮會散發出柔和性的白光，在白天的時候可透露出內部樓層的變化，也可以看到結構玻璃的線性鋼材，這樣就創造出立面豐富的層次感。建築師祖姆特對於建築物的外皮的形容是『它像是輕微縐紋的動物羽毛，或者是像鱗片般的結構』，玻璃都是採用相同的尺寸，並且都未經切割和穿孔，只是用金屬托架來固定，玻璃的邊緣曝露在外部，而空氣可由開口中吹入，成為雙層空氣外牆。
在美術館內部的樓梯都緊靠在建築物的外牆，透露出另一種的變化性。在室內最上面三層樓的空間都有方形玻璃鑲嵌的天花板，與外牆產生一致性，並且玻璃天花板與樓板之間有兩公尺的淨空空間，在這個虛空間中充滿著光線和空氣。室內空間也因為半透明的玻璃外牆以及玻璃天花板充滿了光線，而在旁邊也有經電腦控制的人工照明來補足當照度不夠時的照明，就是因為如此的設計你在室內空間行走的時候，因為室內的明亮你會感覺到你好像是行走在天空之下，配合著室內的電腦控制空氣調解器，讓你可以充分的了解到外面的環境。
在室內的牆面是使用未經裝飾的混凝土牆面，呈現出來的是一種柔和的感覺，而畫座是由牆壁上的吊掛孔將畫吊起鎖定在牆面上，如果在沒有展覽的時牆面上的吊孔會被封住，牆面就會平整沒有縫隙，但祖姆特相信『好的建築物必需要有趣的人生活過的痕跡。 也想著因年代過久在銅製品上會產生綠銅鏽和無數的小刮痕。』
建築物內部的微氣候被精確的控制著，因為整個建築物的外牆是半透明的玻璃然後再來就是混凝土牆面，所以整個建築物會因為受到太陽日照而變得室內氣溫太高，他們就利用前面所提到的雙層牆體隔熱外，還利用到了當地的一個地底的一一條小溪流，打入一到非結構性牆壁到地下25m，並且用抽水機將水抽入牆內的水管，在建築物內部所有混凝土牆面流動，進一步的利用電子控制的空調系統控制室內環境。
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設計案名稱：Kunsthaus Bregenz (Bregenz Art Museum 波堅思美術館)
設計案位置：Karl Tizian Platz, A-6900 Bregenz, Austria 奧地利
建築師：Peter Zumthor
建造時間：1990-1997
Zumthor won the commission for the design of this contemporary art gallery, the Vorarlberger Landesgalerie, by competition. The building won the 1998 Mies van der Rohe prize, and Peter Zumthor the Carlsberg 1998 prize.
Completed one year after the opening of the thermal baths, this building was the definitive accomplishment that gave Peter Zumthor the status of Master architect for younger followers worldwide.
The museum stands like a box of light on the shores of Lake Constance. Its inner light is ever-changing, depending on the type of exhibition installed inside, the time of the day and the color of the sky. The building was designed to catch light with all of its surface and then distribute it into the three levels of the gallery space plus the ground floor. The glass skin is a free standing structure supported by a metal frame; it also protects the interior concrete tower from rain and wind.
Between each gallery level there is a complete floor that is totally empty, a 'light plenum'. This is were the external light is collected and then spread into the gallery space below. The gallery floor is a box of concrete without a top: the ceiling is made of glass panels. The amount of light caught by the gap between floors is enough to display some exhibitions without the use of any artificial light, and frees the wall surface from the need for window openings.
Zumthor has transformed technical and rational solutions into sensual and poetic situations. The way in which the glass shines against the light gives it a velvet-like visual texture; this softness continues inside where the concrete surface is polished and soft to the touch, and where accessory elements such as frames and handrails are either polished or totally matt.
The visitor moves through the building in a circular way, either taking the elevator to the top floor and then descending using the stairs or the opposite way around. This circular pattern is a result of the structural configuration of the space. The floor slabs are supported by three interior bearing walls located at the perimeters of the gallery. It is common for the curators of this museum to divide each exhibition in three parts following the organization of the building, and at the same time the formal neutrality of the spaces allows the institution to change the quality of the space with each exhibition.
However this is not a neutral building. Whatever concessions the space makes in terms of form and its straight forward circulation system are counterbalanced with the sensuality of the material and with the quality of the light.
The curatorial work of the team behind the Kunsthaus Bregenz is audacious, even aggressive, and exploits the possibilities of the building to its limits with every exhibition.
The program of the museum also asked for administration, shop and cafe space. The glass box was reserved for galleries and a smaller building made out of black concrete was designed to house these other uses, creating between the two volumes an empty area that is not quite a square or piazza but more like a left-over space with the potential for public occupation. Sometimes the exhibition spills out of the building into this space, and when the weather is fine the café also takes possession of it.