The Kunsthalle St. Gallen was founded in 1985 and describes itself originally as a place where artistic statements are used to react to controversial situations relating to urban development. These are represented by condemned properties like the public baths (Volksbad) or the industrial college (Gewerbeschule). The cultural-political idea of employing artistic methods to react to urban development issues provides both the motivation and the driving force for defining cultural sites out of nothing, for a limited time and with meagre resources.
