In the competition for the new museum building in Essen, there are Hadid and MVRDV

Essen - Architectural competitions for the new construction of the Folkwang Museum of Art in Essen, Germany, whose results will be announced in February of next year, involve a total of 12 teams, including the world-renowned British architect Zaha Hadid and the Dutch studio MVRDV. According to today's statement from the Folkwang Museum spokesperson, the new building is to be completed by 2010, with an investment amounting to 55 million euros (approximately 1.5 billion crowns).
    The investment for the expansion of the museum's existing exhibition spaces will be funded by the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation. The new extension will be built on the site of one of the wings of the building that was opened in 1983. It is set to be completed in 2010, when Essen will become the European City of Culture.
    Among the twelve registered architects in the competition are many internationally known names. For example, competing for the contract will be British Zaha Hadid, a recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Prize, who has several completed projects in German-speaking countries. Other proposals will be provided by British architect David Chipperfield, the Dutch architectural team MVRDV, or the German office Schultes Frank, which was responsible for the project of the new office of the German Chancellor in Berlin.
    The Folkwang Museum in Essen was founded at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries by art patron Karl Ernst Osthaus. Today, the gallery presents significant collections of French and German modern art.