Exhibition building of the German Historical Museum
The exhibition building of the German Historical Museum (DHM) in Berlin has the task of increasing the exhibition area of the museum, which is housed in the historical armory . The additional areas are used for changing special exhibitions. The building by the architect Ieoh Ming Pei is an example of modern architecture of international standing.
The history
In October 1987, while Germany was still divided , the federal government decided to found the “ German Historical Museum ” based in West Berlin - as a counterpart to the East Berlin “Museum of German History” in the armory on Unter den Linden . The new museum was to be built on an area near the Reichstag building . The Italian Aldo Rossi won the Europe-wide design competition . With the reunification in 1990 these plans were abandoned. A little later, the planned property was needed for the new government buildings in reunified Germany.
The planning phase
On the day of reunification on October 3, 1990, the federal government transferred the collection and property of the then Museum of German History to the Society of the DHM . The armory was to remain the permanent location of the now larger facility. A serious space problem was connected with this decision. The original, scientifically developed museum concept provided areas of 16,000 m² for the permanent exhibition and 5,000 m² for changing special exhibitions. The bodies involved now had to accept a reduction to around half, because only 7500 m² was available in the armory. The space available here was barely enough for the planned permanent exhibition. Additional, easily accessible rooms had to be found for special exhibitions. The museum's depot and workshop buildings were literally close by, only separated from the main building by the narrow alley “Behind the Armory”. Investigations showed, however, that these buildings, which had been built in the 1950s, could not be converted appropriately. The German Bundestag therefore decided to demolish it and build a new building at the same location.
IM Pei, who was born in the Republic of China in 1917 , lives in New York and is considered one of the most important contemporary architects , was able to be won over to design the new building . He had already mastered the task of complementing old buildings with modern architecture several times in a spectacular manner - the best-known example is the entrance area of the Louvre in Paris with the glass pyramid . Because of his old age, Pei only accepts a few new tasks and does particularly thorough research before he accepts. According to his presentation, he was interested in the political and cultural climate in Berlin soon after reunification. But the urban situation was even more important to him . Although the building site is inconveniently laid out and relatively hidden, there are important structures in the immediate vicinity, such as the Neue Wache and the Old Museum by Schinkel - whose work Pei particularly appreciates - the armory by Nering and Schlüter and other important historical buildings on the boulevard Unter den Linden, which was a particular challenge for the architect.
Also for reasons of age, Pei no longer took part in architecture competitions. The Berlin contract was therefore awarded directly to him after a concluding discussion with the Federal Chancellor at the time, a procedure that, although not ruled out, was unusual for projects of this kind and aroused some public criticism. Such objections fell silent after Pei presented his first drawings in mid-1996 and his model for the new building on January 17, 1997. It received the approval of both the preservationists and those who advocate modern architecture in historical contexts. In August 1998 the architect presented the computer simulation for the new building and the groundbreaking ceremony took place, in April 2002 the topping-out ceremony was celebrated, on May 23, 2003 the keys of the finished house could be handed over. The cost was 47 million euros.
The building
All traffic routes that limit the new building site are significant in terms of urban history. The old structures with their lines of sight, for example to the Berlin Cathedral and the television tower , were to be retained. The solution was to connect the old and new buildings of the museum only underground. The new building can be reached from the armory via the square inner courtyard. This so-called arsenal courtyard was given a canopy that was also designed by IM Pei, a very flat, glass dome that spans the 40 × 40 m courtyard without supports and makes it usable for various purposes regardless of the weather. Across the courtyard you can reach an escalator leading downwards , then through a corridor the lower exhibition level of the extension building, which is below street level. Direct access to the new building is possible from the street through a large glass revolving door.
The building parts
The new building was built on an area of little more than 2000 m² and consists of three parts with different functions. These components are connected to one another by several transitions on different levels. The geometry of the floor plan consists of simple shapes: triangle (the actual exhibition wing ), circular arc (the facade line of the foyer ) and rectangle (the wings of the workshop building). The triangle is used as a recurring feature throughout the building, similar to Pei's two famous earlier buildings, the east wing of the National Gallery in Washington and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong .
The exhibition area offers usable space of approx. 2600 m² on four floors. Two floors are completely windowless, the others are almost closed to the outside. The two upper floors can easily be combined into one unit for larger exhibitions, they are connected by an internal spiral staircase . Unlike the outer walls of the lower floors, the facade on the upper floor is deliberately interrupted in some places. Pei wanted to include the urban environment here - a large window makes the chestnut grove , the Neue Wache and the Hedwig Cathedral visible, a terrace and a bay window face the Museum Island . The exhibition rooms as a whole are relatively low and in some cases so idiosyncratic that curators were faced with unusual problems when presenting their objects. Below the lower exhibition level there is a second basement, which takes up the entire floor space and is used as a depot and for technical functions.
Since very different exhibits are to be shown in the frequently changing exhibitions, technical flexibility was an essential requirement of the exhibition area. The entire ventilation and electrical engineering is housed in the double floors. The ventilation must guarantee constant conditions of 21 ° C and 55% humidity at all points . The normal floor panels covered with oak parquet can be exchanged for other panels with electrical connections so that electricity is available everywhere in the rooms for special tasks. The general lighting in the building is provided by downlights, for the additional accent lighting in the exhibition rooms light rails were installed, also in the triangular grid of the overall concept. The walls are also prepared for variable use, they are made of plasterboard on wooden multilayer boards , signs of use can easily be repaired.
The most striking part of the building is the bright, fully glazed foyer that connects the four exhibition floors. From the street it allows large-scale insights into the structures and movements within the house. From the inside there is always a free view of the closely opposite north facade of the armory, which was previously barely noticeable from the narrow street and is now effectively brightened by the light reflection from the large glass surfaces of the foyer. Escalators, open stairs, bridges and galleries as well as a huge, circular opening in the partition wall between the exhibition building and the foyer create ever new perspectives and entanglements vertically and horizontally. The comparison with the creations of the Italian architect and engraver of the 18th century Giovanni Battista Piranesi , in particular with the spatial fantasies of his series "Carceri", is obvious and has also been mentioned by Pei. This variety of optical possibilities, but also his successful intention to give a previously neglected corner in the center of classic Berlin a new urban meaning through form and light, prompted Pei to speak of his museum building as an "urban theater".
The stair tower, which is also made of glass and is connected to the foyer, but clearly protrudes from its basic shape, became the hallmark of the building and an additional symbol of Berlin. The distinctive spindle shape can be seen from afar and is a shining attraction in the evening. From the spiral staircase, the visitor's gaze captures alternating views of the important buildings in the area. The complicated bends in the glass surface were technically particularly demanding and some of them had to be manufactured as unique pieces in their own bending molds.
The L-shaped workshop building is adjacent to the foyer to the east and connected to it several times inside . It contains a small auditorium with 57 seats, storage areas and the restorers' workshops .
The materials
A number of special materials were used for the construction, and Pei placed particular emphasis on their careful processing. The massive structures are clad with light-colored, finely polished slabs of French limestone (“Magny Le Louvre”), which, with their dense grouting, give an unusually closed, monolithic impression. Load-bearing columns and floor slabs are made of so-called architectural concrete , which is colored in the shade of limestone and poured into a cladding of finely grained, narrow pine strips ("Oregon Pine"). Slabs made of North American granite (“Mason”) are used as the flooring, the structure of which is partly beige and is based on the predominant color in the building; the same material was used for the floor of the armory yard. For the numerous, large glass surfaces, Pei chose a low-iron oxide and therefore particularly white, highly transparent glass.
Granite bench and floor panels. Detail.
Detail of the facade
Public response
The public reaction was extremely positive. As soon as the drafts were presented, the “ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ” wrote: “Pei, praised as the magician of space, has succeeded in Berlin sensitively combining old and new and turning a remote area into an eye-catcher” (January 20, 1997). The " Berliner Zeitung " praised that the design "fits into the small-scale street grid behind the armory," but forms "with great elegance a completely independent crystal body that does without historical references" (January 17, 1997). The building means “not only a museological but also an urbanistic stroke of luck” (May 22, 2003). The jury for the German Architecture Prize 2005 praised the building, which "serves both as an entrance area to the DHM and as a joint in the transition to the Museum Island [as] a surprising enrichment of the museum landscape in the center of Berlin." Some critical comments related to the proportions of the glass stair tower. Even Pei himself did not find it to be optimal, but rather “unhappy in proportion. I did it as well as I could. But it wasn't good enough. ”Overall, however, the architect was very satisfied with the building and expressed this in his thanks to the staff:“ It's a miracle! ”
literature
- Ulrike Kretzschmar: IM Pei - The exhibition building for the German Historical Museum, Berlin. Prestel Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7913-2861-1 .
- Arnt Cobbers: Ieoh Ming Pei. No. 6 in the series of architects and builders in Berlin. Jaron Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89773-408-7 .
Web links
- The detailed website of the German Historical Museum on Pei and the exhibition building
- An article in the "Welt"
- Discussion of the building and its history
Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '7.9 " N , 13 ° 23' 47.9" E