The handover of the keys to the newly restored Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin on Thursday was ultimately a celebration of the building's esteemed architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
Himself a modern art collector whose Chicago apartment featured works by Paul Klee and Picasso, the former Bauhaus director enthusiastically accepted a commission to design a contemporary art gallery in Berlin in the 1960s.
Constructed between 1965 and 1968, the Neue Nationalgalerie, with its highly geometric form and vast glass windows around its signature upper showroom, became an instant classic of high modernist architecture.
After a major refurbishment, it now begins a second life.
As the keys were handed back to the Berlin State Museums that manage the institution alongside the neighboring Kulturforum, much was said of the fact that so little has changed after a six-year renovation. This is due to the painstaking effort by David Chipperfield Architects to first gut and update the heritage-listed building, and to put it back together almost exactly as they found it.
A utopian building
David Chipperfield, who also remodeled the Neues Museum and designed the James Simon Gallery on Berlin's Museum Island, spoke via video of how Mies van der Rohe was the ideal candidate to create an architectural landmark in postwar Berlin.
"He was an architect capable of a utopian building in a city which needed some utopian thoughts, at a time when it was looking again for a future," said Chipperfield of Mies' last major commission — he died in 1969, a year after the Neue Nationalgalerie was completed.
"It is one of his most important works," he added, saying Mies imbued the structure with "extreme harmony" through "the coordination of structure and space, construction and material, purpose and form."
"It's wonderful to be part of this story of this incredible city," he told DW of his own contribution to the building, along with his practice's work on various Berlin institutions. But Chipperfield insisted that his renovation is not a work of architecture. "There's only space for one architect in this building," he said.
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David Chipperfield: The architect of minimalism
A tiny Acropolis
The Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach opened in June 2006. Chipperfield fluently interwove elegant motifs of classical architecture with contemporary formal language. The museum plays with perspectives and vistas, contrasting daylight and artificial light. It offers an optimal space for the exhibition of sensitive paper exhibits.
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David Chipperfield: The architect of minimalism
Sensitive reconstruction
In 2003, reconstruction and renovation work began on the Neues Museum in Berlin according to Chipperfield's plans. Together with the architect Julian Harrap, the British architect developed the concept of "supplementary restoration," in which the original substance was preserved. The museum, which was severely damaged during the Second World War, was closed for decades before it reopened in 2009.
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David Chipperfield: The architect of minimalism
Chic modernism in Germany's Ruhr area
In 2010, the Folkwang Museum in Essen opened the new David Chipperfield wing. It comprises six pavilions that complement the original museum building, which stands under historical preservation. With its huge pale green front made of recycled glass, the cubic structure radiates tranquillity.
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David Chipperfield: The architect of minimalism
A seaside museum with a painter's perspective
The new Turner Contemporary Gallery opened in 2011 in Margate on the Kent coast in southeastern England. The art gallery has played a key role in the city's revitalization. The once pulsating seaside resort was coming to terms with a sharp drop in visitor numbers and falling investment. The building aims to attract new visitors and makes a lasting impact on the cityscape.
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David Chipperfield: The architect of minimalism
Interconnected cement construction
Redesigned in 2012 as part of an inner-city development project, the old harbor quarters in Wakefield, England, was supplemented with a new museum building for the Hepworth Museum, as conceived by David Chipperfield. Surrounded by water on two sides, the building nested on the banks of the Calder River consists of 10 trapezoidal concrete hexahedra of different sizes.
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David Chipperfield: The architect of minimalism
A landmark of sail and wind
"Veles e Vents" — sail and wind — is the name of the building in the port of the Spanish city of Valencia. Erected in 2006 on the occasion of what is probably the most important sailing race in the world, the "America's Cup," the building is designed to resemble a sailboat. What's extraordinary is that the terraces were designed so as to ensure there is a clear view of the sea from every point.
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David Chipperfield: The architect of minimalism
An airy cultural center
The Museo delle Culture "MUDEC" in Milan has been uniting the Archaeological Museum, a marionette workshop, a film school and a center for non-European cultures since the beginning of 2015. The renovation of the building, which formerly was a place for industrial workers, includes a glazed inner courtyard, around which the exhibition rooms open up.
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David Chipperfield: The architect of minimalism
A modern art castle
The Museo Jumex in Mexico City has been home to over 2000 exhibits by international, Mexican and Latin American artists since 2014. Founded in 2001, Eugenio Lopez's private collection focuses on contemporary art. The museum building is based on 14 supports, which merges the surrounding public plaza with the ground floor.
Author: Isabel Surges (ct)
Speaking live at the gallery on Thursday, Germany's Minister of State for Culture, Monika Grütters, also emphasized the building's architectural significance.
"With its large, light-flooded hall and the exhibition rooms in the basement, Mies van der Rohe's architectural icon now shines in new splendor," she said. She added that when it reopened on August 22, the gallery will "once again become a magnet for the public."
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886 – 1969) was an icon of of mid-century design and architecture
"Mies van der Rohe created a universal beacon of classical modernism toward the end of his life's work," said Anne Katrin Bohle, state secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community. "His architecture creates spatial freedom in its purest form [and] paved the way for an entire generation of architects."
Indeed, the Berlin masterwork is also reminiscent of the German-born architect's other "International Style" buildings such as Farnsworth House in Illinois, or the pioneering German Pavilion created for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona.
Updated but all original
Praise also went to Chipperfield, who remained faithful to this vision by removing, restoring and reinstalling some 35,000 building objects including granite slabs, light fixtures, railings, glass and wooden panels. "Thank you very much David, you did an awesome job," said Bohle.
The Neue Nationalgalerie was also modernized to meet contemporary standards in terms of air conditioning, fire protection and security. The entire underfloor heating system, and the ventilation system, was renewed.
Refurbishment of the museum, seen here in 2017, took twice as long as the original construction of the building
Chipperfield reiterated that the renewal was "surgical in nature... in order to protect his [the architect's] vision. We hope to have released the patient to all appearances untouched — just in much better condition."
"Our responsibility," he told DW, "was just to repair it and bring it back to what the architect had intended it to be."
Sculptor Alexander Calder headlines reopening
The reopening on August 22 with also be a major statement of artistic intent, with a new collection of 20th-century art being presented alongside an exhibition on Alexander Calder, the US sculptor known for his abstract kinetic "mobiles" that hang from wires. His outdoor sculpture "Têtes et Queue" (1965) is synonymous with the Neue Nationalgalerie, having been installed for its inauguration.
Having originally been dedicated to acquiring artworks deemed "degenerate" by the Nazi regime, the Neue Nationalgalerie collection today boasts contemporary masterpieces by artists from across Europe and North America, such as Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter and Andy Warhol.
Much of this work can be enjoyed again from August 22 in the German capital, of course depending on COVID restrictions.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, 1996
Despite its name, this museum is not situated in Hamburg, but in Berlin, in the former terminus of the Hamburg-Berlin Railway. The building was renovated in the 1990s to house Erich Marx's private collection of contemporary art, which includes works by Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer and Andy Warhol. Focusing on art since 1960, the museum is run by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 1968
Berlin actually already has two museums of modern art. Mies van der Rohe designed this architectural icon that has been undergoing renovation since 2015. Nevertheless, the building is too small for the National Museum's inventory of contemporary art. A planned extension would be linked to the main building via underground walkways.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Folkwang Museum, Essen, 2010
Impressionism, Expressionism, Surrealism — in 1902 the Folkwang Museum was a pioneer of modern art. The Nazis removed about 1,400 works they saw as "degenerate art," some of which were repurchased after the war. The collection includes works by Jackson Pollock, Günther Uecker and Georg Baselitz. The new museum, designed by David Chipperfield and financed by the Krupp Foundation, opened in 2010.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, 2005
The glass cube located right on Schlossplatz square has been an integral part of Stuttgart's city center since 2005. During the day, the façade reflects its surroundings and at night, the illuminated interior highlight the limestone walls. In addition to contemporary art, the museum houses an important Otto Dix collection.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, 2002
This museum houses four collections — modern art, works on paper, architecture and design — under one roof. The modern art section offers a wide array of works and styles, including by 20th-century German artist groups Die Brücke and Der Blauer Reiter. The collection has about 20,000 works that have been steadily established since 1945 thanks to donations, acquisitions and foundations.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Galerie der Moderne, Hamburg, 1997
The gallery is part of the Hamburger Kunsthalle that presents collections from the Middle Ages onwards in three buildings. What makes it special is that artists helped shape the interior of the five-story cube. Jenny Holzer's "Ceiling Snake" shines over a staircase, and Bogomir Ecker's stalactite machine spans all floors.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Kunstmuseum Bonn, 1992
The collection that started out with the purchase of two August Macke paintings in 1949 has grown to about 9,000 works. The focus has always been on a manageable number of outstanding artists whose works are presented in spacious rooms — thanks to a new building in 1992, designed by Axel Schultes. At the time, the flowing spatial concept set new standards in museum construction.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, 1986
The purchase of 88 Paul Klee works in 1961 marked the start of the collection, which has been added to ever since. The museum soon threatened to burst at the seams, so a new building, the K20, opened in 1986. That space became too small as well, so a second addition came in 2002: the K21, in the former North Rhine-Westphalia parliamentary building.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 1986
Cologne is home to the third-largest Picasso exhibition and the largest pop art collection in Europe. Many of the latter works were gifted by collectors Irene and Peter Ludwig. Initially, the building also housed a classic picture gallery, but since 2001, the approximately 8,000 square meters are reserved for contemporary art.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 1986
The Schirn does not have its own collection but instead presents changing exhibitions of international renown, for instance thematic shows on political art, the wilderness or artist self-portraits. The word "Schirn" is Old High German and means "open sales stand." The museum was built in Frankfurt's old town, an area that was destroyed in WWII.
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Germany's museums of contemporary art
Sprengel Museum Hannover, 1979
The museum goes back to chocolate manufacturer and patron of the arts Bernhard Sprengel. He collected works of German Expressionism and French Modernism, and donated his considerable collection to his hometown of Hannover. The museum opened in 1979 and has been expanding ever since. In 2015, Alice Aycock's sculpture, "Another Twister," was installed in front of the building, welcoming visitors.
Author: Nadine Wojcik (db)
