© OMA

Small Hermitage

While exploring and studying the Hermitage in the early 2000s, we encountered, hidden beneath the dense mass of the museum, the former stables and manège of the palace complex. Though located on the ground level of the Small Hermitage, these spaces have remained unseen by the public, and have primarily been used to store furniture, carriages and other large items since the 1950s.

Free of decoration, the two large and open halls of the Small Hermitage are transformed into a Kunsthalle, a new space for temporary exhibitions, events and experimentation – a radically different condition to the rest of the museum.