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Neues Museum & Neue Nationalgalerie designed by David Chipperfield Architects

At the centre of the city of Berlin, David Chipperfield Architects’ team delivered the restoration of the Neues Museum, Berlin in 2009, and was later followed by the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (New National Gallery)  in 2021. These works by David Chipperfield Architects have been widely praised for their contribution to the architectural heritage of significant buildings and Berlin’s cultural scene. During a recent visit to Berlin, I had the pleasure of visiting both museums; both buildings appeared to have retained the good parts and upgraded to enhance the modern day visitor experience, and the new additions felt like a respectful nod to the old parts - contributing to the continuation of architectural heritage.

Neues Museum staircase by David Chipperfield Architects. Image by Von Chua.

Situated in Berlin’s Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Neues Museum originally opened in 1859 was designed by Friedrich August Stuler. During the Second World War, it was bombed extensively and left as a ruin for decades, until David Chipperfield Architects won the competition for its restoration in 1997. Today, the Neues Museum houses an Egyptian art collection. Connected to the Neues Museum is also the James Simon Galerie, which serves as the main visitor centre that acts as the connector between the museums within the museum complex and the city of Berlin. The boundaries between the Neues Museum and the James Simon Galerie are not immediately apparent, however, the totality of the architectural interventions felt seamless and considered to visitors who may find themselves in the buildings for the first time. One can enter from the old (Neues Museum entrance) and exit from the new (James Simon Galerie entrance), or vice versa, yet feel rooted within the streets of Berlin. In London, I felt this same level of public experience and consideration even after numerous visits to the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly; again, David Chipperfield Architects’ London practice worked on the masterplan between 2008 and 2018, connecting the formal entrance from Burlington House to the newly acquired 6 Burlington Gardens.

The Neues Museum was mentioned on the practice’s website as a formative project for David Chipperfield Architects’ team. For the Neues Museum, David Chipperfield’s team created a process for evaluating the treatment of the building’s historic fabric, complex stakeholder engagement, and setting the vision of restoring the building’s form and figure. At the end of the day, it was David Chipperfield Architects’ approach for the project that won the trust of the cultural institution; it was not a signature style, a recognisable icon or the likes of it that won the project. The practice acknowledges the importance of working on the Neues Museum and how the learnings from this particular project informed later cultural projects by the practice. The success of the Neues Museum project brought international recognition and cemented David Chipperfield Architects’ reputation in the museum design sector, as well as in cultural heritage and architectural preservation.

Visiting the Neues Museum and the Neue Nationalgalerie one day after another, both museums cannot be more different in what each museum organization is dedicated to. And yet, they have both been selected to work with David Chipperfield Architects’ team. Why?

By the time the Neue Nationalgalerie cultural organisation was appointing their design team, David Chipperfield Architects had accumulated the experience, expertise and know-how to renovate a museum from the previously mentioned Neues Museum. Completed 12 years later, the Neue Nationalgalerie by Potsdamer Platz, Berlin is also a significant project for David Chipperfield Architects. Originally opened in 1968 by the legendary architect Mies van der Rohe, the Neue Nationalgalerie is dedicated to 20th-century art. The interventions by David Chipperfield Architects on the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, to me, were truly a respectful nod to the building’s original architect Mies van der Rohe. I studied Mies van der Rohe’s works extensively during my time as an architecture student, and I recognised Mies van der Rohe’s design philosophies within this project from one area to another. David Chipperfield calls what I noticed as the ‘Mies vocabulary’. According to an interview by David Chipperfield, he mentioned that the building they inherited had numerous technical weaknesses that his team worked hard to bring to modern standards. He said, “the reason the window frames are so beautiful is that they were stripped back to nearly nothing. As a result, they lacked insulation and produced lots of condensation, which caused the frames to rust. This rusting meant that the frames couldn’t expand and contract as they were supposed to, so the glass frequently broke.” With the technical expertise of the appointed project team, which includes executive architect BAL Bauplanungs and Steuerungs, structural engineers GSE Ingenieurgesellschaft, and restoration consultant Pro Denkmal, to name a few, it re-opened in 2021.

Photos of the building’s facade between the original building and the newly reopened version in 2021 may look quite similar, however, 35,000 metal framings, granite slabs and timber panelling were carefully removed to be restored in factories, and then carefully returned to the site to be reinstated. The Neue Nationalgalerie was disassembled, examined, repaired and reassembled. The selection of materials and finishes were replicated as closely as possible to the original. David Chipperfield reiterated that this approach was an important part of how his team approached this project.

Since commencing work on the Neues Museum and the Neue Nationalgalerie, David Chipperfield Architects has also worked on other culturally significant projects all over the world. For example, the Kunsthaus Zurich Extension (completed in 2020), the West Bund Art Museum in Shanghai (completed in 2019), the Royal Academy of Arts Masterplan in London (completed in 2018), the Museo Jumex in Mexico City (completed 2013), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Master Plan in New York (work in progress). David Chipperfield Architects continues to be an architectural leader in museum design.