Description

The James Simon Gallery, named after the generous patron of Berlin’s museums during the reign of Emperor Wilhelm II, serves as new central entrance building for several of the museums on Berlin’s Museumsinsel, making them more easily accessible to visitors who all too often only pass through briefly. The new building is located on the western edge of the island between Kupfergraben and Neues Museum. Based on a masterplan from 1999, it connects three of the five museums: the Neues Museum, the Altes Museum and the Pergamonmuseum. A connection through to the Bode Museum north of the S-Bahn line that crosses through the site is also planned.

The entrance building comprises several different parts and is, above all, characterised by many pathways. Once inside, however, its arrangement, distributed over three levels, becomes evident. Through its proportions and stepped forms, the design succeeds not only in tying in with the neighbouring Neues Museum, but also with the bulky Pergamon Museum behind it. Approaching from the Lustgarten, visitors ascend a broad flight of steps leading up to the upper foyer. A further entrance to the lower foyer is located at the long side in the colonnade opposite the Neues Museum. Its new tall colonnades link up, both in front and behind the Neues Museum, to the central area of the Museumsinsel with its large colonnaded courtyard, completing the existing colonnaded walkways that surround the courtyard and continue on past the Neues Museum, creating a continuous walkway.

After entering the hall of the lower foyer on Level 1, the auditorium with a seating capacity of 300 lies to the left beneath the outdoor staircase. Straight ahead, stairs lead up to a low intermediate level with the museum shop, lined with walnut panelling, the cloakroom and other service functions. Two large picture windows open onto the Kupfergraben. To the right of the foyer, a staircase leads to level 0, just below water level, with an open exhibition area adjoining the foyer on the history of the Island of the Museumsinsel. In the centre of the hall, a ten-metre-high timber pile rises – which dates back to the time of Karl Friedrich Schinkel and originally anchored the Museumsinsel in the muddy subsoil –directing the visitor’s gaze back up to the light, before they proceed onto the underground archaeological promenade through the museums.

On this level, a 700 m² windowless hall with an illuminated ceiling for temporary exhibitions extends outwards towards the Kupfergraben and can be used flexibly for different exhibition concepts. With variable air-conditioning, it can also be used to present exhibits that are particularly delicate, a facility that until now was lacking in the museums. Visitors reach the upper foyer on level 2 via the low intermediate level with the museum shop and cloakroom, but most will arrive from the broad open outdoor staircase. Along the length of the foyer is a remarkably narrow, long, predominantly glazed restaurant and café that occupies much of the colonnade and opens onto a terrace overlooking the Kupfergraben. At the northern end of the upper level, an opening will provide a new entrance to the Pergamon Museum, providing visitors with a quick tour of its highlights. The tall colonnade along the west side of the building adjoining the Kupfergraben is an urban loggia visible from afar.

When the building opened, access was only possible to the south wing of the Pergamon Museum – which had not yet been renovated and was therefore still accessible – and to the Neues Museum. The underground connections to the remaining museums will follow. At the time of opening, therefore, the building’s potential as a connector and entrance to all the museums is only partially fulfilled.

Originally published in Bauwelt 02.2019, pp. 19-27, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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