Muzej Lah, a new Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by David Chipperfield Architects, is scheduled to open in Bled, Slovenia in the summer of 2026. The museum is located on the foothills of the Julian Alps and will accommodate the Fundacija Lah Art Collection, which was developed by the Slovenian philanthropists Igor and Mojca Lah for more than three decades. The collection is made public for the first time with the opening of the institution.
The museum is located under Bled's medieval castle and near the Lake Bled in a forested area with the Julian Alps as a natural backdrop. The building is embedded in a hill cleaning and has a garden in the back in which sculptures are organized outdoors so that visitors can contact works of art in a natural environment. The design reflects both the alpine environment and the spatial requirements of the collection. A characteristic roof line reflects the surrounding landscape and channel the northern lights into the galleries. The staggered volumes react to internal circulation and gallery organization and create a different mass that integrates into the site. A number of outdoor spaces, each with their own atmosphere, improve the relationship between architecture and location.
The museum over 5,000 square meters will contain over 800 works by more than 100 international and Slovenian artists. The collection includes pieces by Anselm Kiefer, Joseph Beuys, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, William Kentridge, Zoran Mušič as well as members of new Slovic art together with contemporary voices such as Anne Imhof, Theaste Gates and Hito Steyerl. The works include a broad time and thematic reach from the period after 1945 to the present day and offer insights into historical, sociological, philosophical and personal stories.
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The various volumes of the building are uniformly through a number of sloping, tiled roofs that look at the museum into its slope. The building is defined by a series of rooms, courtyards and terraces, both of which create an ideal backdrop for the collection and give the visitor a strong feeling for the surrounding landscape. – Sir David Chipperfield, director of David Chipperfield Architects
In addition to exhibition galleries, MUZEJ LAH will house a library, a research center, a restaurant and a retail area. As a multifunctional cultural venue, it was a diverse program of exhibitions, performances, film screenings, concerts and education initiatives. Through its programming, the museum aims to promote critical commitment to contemporary art and current social issues.
In other news from David Chipperfield Architects, the NED Hotel in Doha, Qatar, was drawn to the Architecture Prize 2025 AGA Khan. The studio also revealed the preliminary design for the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Roman theater in Verona. Among its expected projects, the Elbtower in Hamburg becomes the highest building in the city at 230 meters and integrate offices, retail, a hotel and public rooms along the river bank of Hellecity.