The James-Simon-Galerie, the first new building on Berlin’s Museum Island in nearly 100 years, opened to the public on July 13, 2019 and acts as the new entrance building to the island. The building sits at a key location in front of or behind the Neues Museum and Pergamon Museum, complementing the interplay of spatial alignments on the island and reorientating it towards the city.
The project plays an essential role in the Museum Island master plan and links four of the five museums via the Archaeological promenade below ground (the project includes 3 above ground levels, one mezzanine, and two below ground levels). The master plan sets a framework for developing a modern museum complex while preserving the unique historical ensemble, and the James-Simon-Galerie does just that by providing a contemporary aesthetic that blends in with the surrounding museums.
Upper foyer, main internal staircase. Photo: © Ute Zscharnt for David Chipperfield Architects.
The primary façade material is cast stone. An aggregate made of white marble gravel from Saxony lends the entrance building its tonality, integrating it into the diversity of materials on Museum Island. Behind the building's columns, the envelop is glazed, and stabilized by eight-meter-high vertical façade supports, themselves made from glass.
See Also: POST Houston mixed-use development will include a five-acre “skylawn”
Inside, the structure is characterized by textured surfaces, in particular smooth in-situ concrete walls in fair-face concrete and floors made of bright Crailsheim shell limestone. The mezzanine floor and the auditorium have smoked oak parquet flooring. Bronze was used for window profiles, doors and handrails throughout the building. A copper braid was used on selected ceilings, including in the café.
Plinth and tall colonnade (92 columns). Photo: Photo: © Simon Menges.
The 10,900-sm building was designed to welcome large numbers of visitors and to house all the facilities required by contemporary museum-goers. The James-Simon-Galerie also includes divisible temporary exhibition space and a 350-seat auditorium. Outside of museum hours, a grand staircase, a terrace with café, and a new courtyard will be accessible to the public.
Revolving doors and draft lobbies help minimize heat loss despite the expected high frequency of visitors. The use of radiant building components implemented in the plant technology of the building uses thermally activated surfaces to cover the base load in heating and cooling, reducing the air volume flows. A thermally active and acoustically absorbent ceiling with a copper mesh cladding, which was used in selected areas, also has a positive effect.
Museum Island has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999 and is visited by about three million people every year.
Auditorium. Photo: © Ute Zscharnt for David Chipperfield Architects.
Temporary exhibition space. Photo: © Ute Zscharnt for David Chipperfield Architects.
View from Schlossbrücke. Photo: © Ute Zscharnt for David Chipperfield Architects.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022
CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
| Aug 19, 2022
Manassas Museum renovated to reimagine a civic design & engage the community
Manassas, VA has recently added to its historic Manassas Museum.
Cultural Facilities | Aug 5, 2022
A time and a place: Telling American stories through architecture
As the United States enters the year 2026, it will commence celebrating a cycle of Sestercentennials, or 250th anniversaries, of historic and cultural events across the land.
Museums | Jul 11, 2022
Denmark opens a museum that tells the stories of refugees worldwide
Located on the site of Denmark’s largest World War II refugee camp, the new Refugee Museum of Denmark, FLUGT, tells the stories of refugees from the camp as well as refugees worldwide.
Museums | Jun 28, 2022
The California Science Center breaks grounds on its Air and Space Center
The California Science Center—a hands-on science center in Los Angeles—recently broke ground on its Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
Museums | May 31, 2022
University of Texas at Dallas breaks ground on new 12-acre cultural district
The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) recently broke ground on the Crow Museum of Asian Art, the first phase of a new 12-acre cultural district on campus.
Museums | Mar 16, 2022
Unpacking the secrets to good museum storage
Museum leaders should focus as much design attention on the archives as the galleries themselves, according to a new white paper by Erin Flynn and Bruce Davis, architects and museum experts with the firm Cooper Robertson.
Projects | Mar 2, 2022
Construction nears completion on $1B Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo
At an estimated budget of $1 billion, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is considered the largest museum in the world dedicated to one civilization. The superlatives don’t end there: It’s also the largest museum in Egypt, the largest Pharaonic museum in the world, and one of the world’s leading scientific, historical, and archeological study centers.
Museums | Feb 25, 2022
Virginia Museum of History and Culture set to reopen after 18-month renovation
Expanded exhibits present new learning approaches.
