The Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography has opened atop Mount Kronplatz-Plan de Corones in Italy’s Dolomite Mountains.

Architect Gerhard Mahlknecht was tapped to overhaul the former funicular station, which sits 2,275m above sea level in the heart of the South Tyrol. It has been reborn as 1,800 sqm of exhibition and event space that fits up to 200 people.

Lumen also houses AlpiNN restaurant, helmed by resident chef Marco Perez under the direction of Norbert Niederkofler, whose dining room has dramatic vistas across the craggy Dolomites.

Exhibitions span four levels – including a permanent exhibition dedicated to mountaineer Reinhold Messner and a mirrored gallery – and chart the history of mountain photography from the perspectives of politics, spirituality, alpinism and tourism.

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