The Museum Island Berlin Competition was undoubtedly one of the most ambitious undertakings in its complexity, scope, and vision. The office made three submissions in the duration of two years, between 1993-1994. I remember that during that process, Mr. Gehry had said, “If we won, it would take 30 years to implement.” We did not win the competition; but I felt that I have gained 30 years of wisdom in museology through that experience!
The goal of the project was to create an architectural strategy to connect the four existing museums - Altes Museum, Neus Museum, Pergamon Museum, and Nationalgalerie - currently located on the Museum Island along the Kupfergraben River into a unified museum complex; and to modernize the facilities by providing 15,000 SM of new exhibition and support spaces in the existing and new structures.
In order to respect to the rich and historically sensitive context of Berlin, and to animate the river’s edge of Kupfergraben with public activities, we conceived the new architecture as a series of episodic Interventions, beginning with the reconstruction of the missing wing at the Neus Museum by the neoclassical architect Stuller. The reconstruction effort, together with a new proposed bridge - on axis with Clara-Zetkin-Strabe as originally envisioned by Stuller, would acknowledge Neus Museum’s central location as the new gateway to the entire Museum Island Complex.
Neus Museum’s role as the centralize entry to the Museum Island is further reinforced by a gently sloping stone entry plaza, intended to recall the scale and proportion of the Packhof that once existed at the same location. Two new glass enclosed bridges, like two arms reaching out from the reconstructed façade, would connect the Neus Museum to the Altes Museum and the Pergamon Museum on both sides.
The bridge to Altes would be designed to touch delicately the second window of the east façade, preserving the architectural strength and integrity of the Northeast corner of Schinkle ‘s masterpiece.
Inside the Neus Museum, the restoration would preserve the general volume of the Stuller building, while providing a highly flexible combination of gallery, public space, and clearly organized circulation route. A proposed new grand stair would rise from the majestic great central hall to connect the different levels within the building, as well as with the new glass bridges to the Altes and the Pergamon museums.
From the Neus Museum, visitors would be able to immerse into the rich and diverse collections of the Museum Island by internal linkage; or to embark on a short tour itinerary developed to connect the most frequently visited exhibits in the most direct and efficient circulation loop.
Highlights of the short tour include the ‘Amana Collection’ featuring the exquisite bust of Queen Nefertiti, the Procession Way to the Ishtar Gate, the Gate of Miletus, and finally reaching its apogee at the central courtyard of the Pergamon Museum.
We proposed that this central courtyard to be enclosed by a tensile glass roof and become a great hall for the Egyptian Collection, with a large proscenium opening to the Pergamon Altar. Directly below this covered courtyard would be the Egyptian Underworld exhibit.
In addition, the Court of Colonnades would be restored as a forecourt to the Nationalgalerie. An Inclined grove of trees above an underground lecture hall at the Nationalgalerie overlooks the Spree Canal at Northern end of site.
Our proposal would be implemented in four phases, with the final phase IV as two new buildings in front of the Neus Plaza that would house the Classical Greek and Roman sculptures and Temporary exhibition space.
The scale and volumes of these new buildings would recall that of the Packhof and reinforce the west facing façade of the reconstructed Neus Museum.
Our scheme aimed to improve the thematic and didactic linkage between collections through the delicate balance between the reconstruction and restoration of existing structure and exercising restrain with new architecture. And by promoting opportunities to develop thematic cross-cultural and inter-departmental exhibitions, we have re-imagined the encyclopedic museum for a new century.
The projects in this section were designed and executed during my time at Gehry Partners LLP (the office). I am grateful to Mr. Gehry and the team at the office for their generosity and support over the years. All intellectual property rights of these projects continue to be owned by the office unless otherwise mentioned. The narrative texts on the projects are entirely personal, they do not represent the views or opinions of the office, its clients or any other third party or organization.