Graz Art Museum

I don’t know about you, but when I hear “art museum,” I think of a stuffy old building with walls and walls of paintings on them…usually old paintings that, while probably priceless, are not something I would probably be interested in. I’m sure that is what many art museums look like, but not all of them do. Some art museums are actually very beautiful, like the Louvre, which is both beautiful and unique. Still other museums could only be classified as “different” and even strange!!

The Graz Art Museum is a futuristic-looking building in the heart of Graz, Austria, and this building will definitely catch your eye. The Graz Art Museum is not an old building, but it could be classified as historic…simply because of how it looks. The building is in the heart of Graz, but in reality, it is the Heart of Graz. It may not be called that, but it should be. This relatively “young” building was built in 2003 for the purpose of European Capital of Culture program. The really cool thing about this building is that it was built in the shape of a robotic heart, which makes it stand out from the typical Austrian architecture. The surface of the museum has almost 1000 fluorescent rings which create different patterns at night, and another cool thing is that most of the power energy of the museum comes from solar panels on the roof, making it much more inexpensive to operate.

Whether you’re an art fan or not, you must admit that this museum is, to say the least, interesting. The museum is really a work of art in itself. The round led lights that cover the exterior of the electronic heart shaped building…complete with the arteries…are lit at night to add a futuristic air to the building, displaying different shapes and such on different nights. The interior is as futuristic as the exterior. Even the art that is on display is futuristic. The whole place has an almost “outer space” feel to it. I suppose it could be quite different on the inside, and if I were there in person, it might seem entirely like a normal museum, but I rather think not. I think it might be very difficult for this museum to be “normal” in any way.