K21 Ständehaus (Kunstsammlung NRW)

K21 Ständehaus is the contemporary-art branch of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, Germany, set in the former Ständehaus, the nineteenth-century parliament of the Rhine Province, beside the Kaiserteich on Ständehausstraße. The neo-Renaissance building was converted for museum use and reopened in 2002, and its most striking feature is the glazed central courtyard, which was turned into a tall, light-filled hall crossed by walkways. The collection focuses on art from the 1980s to the present and includes installation, video, photography, sculpture and large-scale painting. Among the best-known permanent presences is Ilya Kabakov's room-sized installation, and the museum has regularly shown work by artists such as Andreas Gursky, Thomas Schütte, Rosemarie Trockel and Katharina Sieverding, many tied to the Düsseldorf art academy tradition. A highlight is Tomás Saraceno's installation of woven nets high in the central space, where visitors can walk or crawl on suspended structures when it is open. Temporary exhibitions fill additional floors, and displays change often, so repeat visitors usually find new material. A typical visit lasts 2 to 3 hours. The museum is closed on Mondays and during Karneval, opens from 11:00AM to 6:00PM on other days, and is calmest on weekday mornings. A single-house ticket costs roughly EUR 12 to 16, and a combined ticket for K21 and K20 Grabbeplatz is normally on offer. The walk between the two buildings takes about 10 minutes through the Altstadt and past the Hofgarten edge. For photos, the central hall seen from the upper walkways and the exterior façade reflected in the Kaiserteich are the best vantage points. The museum café and a shop are on the ground floor. Late openings on the first Wednesday of the month draw evening crowds, so those wanting a quiet look at the installations should pick a weekday morning instead.