David Chipperfield completes the refurbishment of Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie

The most “modern” of all contemporary architects has been working for almost a decade on the a sensible, silent restoration of Mies van der Rohe’s masterpiece.

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, Berlin, Germany, 2012-2021

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, site plan

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, ground floor plan

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, lower ground floor plan

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, east elevation

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, north elevation

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, south elevation

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, west elevation

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, section

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Alessandro Benetti
04 May 2021
Berlino, Germania
David Chipperfield Architects
13.900 mq
museo
2021

It was perhaps inevitable that David Chipperfield would be the one who takes on the refurbishment of Mies van der Rohe’s Neue Nationalgalerie. The most “modern” of contemporary designers, who through his works has been reaffirming for decades the relevance of the architectural modernity's cultural project, has now the occasion to operate firsthand on a major realization by the 20^th century master. The Neue Nationalgalerie is untouchable in its overall image and substance – stone podium, glass pavilion, steel cover – because it is protected both by timely regulations and by the aura that history has bestowed on it. At the same time, after five decades of public access, it has markedly aged in its structures, materials and technologies.

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, Berlin, Germany, 2012-2021

Chipperfield’s intervention is here even more silent than elsewhere, it implements strategies to disappear, it dictates a few compromises in order to achieve this goal. The basement’s granite slabs are dismantled, classified and repositioned, following the restoration of concrete’s structures. A thicker laminated safety glass is used in order to prevent breakages on the main hall’s façade, but a decision is made to use mono-glazing in a non-thermally broken construction. The standards of conservation fortunately prevail over those of energy performance. At the Neue Nationalgalerie Chipperfield lives up to the expectations and proves able to “return the beloved patient seemingly untouched except for its running more smoothly”. To conclude, it is interesting to notice how the same conservation-oriented approach also applies to software components which are usually overlooked. Within the new museum telephones, elevators, radiators and vending machines from the 1960s survive as exhibited objects, often deprived of their original function but “rescued” as evidence of a material culture that has animated the building during a long-gone era.

David Chipperfield Architects, Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment, Berlin, Germany, 2012-2021

Neue Nationalgalerie refurbishment
museum
Berlin, Germany
David Chipperfield Architects
David Chipper eld, Martin Reichert, Alexander Schwarz
Daniel Wendler, Michael Freytag
GSE Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH Saar, Enseleit und Partner
Pro Denkmal GmbH
TOPOS Stadtplanung Landschaftsplanung Stadtforschung
Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz represented by the Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung
13,900 sqm
2021