2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

The building will be completed in the coming months and opened in summer 2019. As the central reception building of Museum Island Berlin with a usable area of around 4,600 square metres, it will then provide information, orientation and hospitality. A room measuring around 655 square metres will be available for temporary exhibitions. And an auditorium with 300 seats will be able to host events in future. The building has ticket and information areas, cloakrooms, a shop and café, and plays an important role in the distribution of visitor flows. From the James-Simon-Galerie, visitors will have direct access to the Ancient Architectures Tour in the Pergamon Museum and to the New Museum via the Archaeological Promenade. The building was constructed on the only available open space on Museum Island according to plans by David Chipperfield Architects Berlin. It is characterised by the large open staircase and the colonnades of extremely slender columns, which pick up on elements of the surrounding historical architecture. The building is part of the Museum Island Masterplan, which was adopted in 1999 to preserve the UNESCO World Heritage Site and at the same time transform it into a contemporary museum complex.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which is the building owner, says: "Today is a huge step in the further development of Museum Island Berlin into the 21st century. For most visitors to the island, this will be the first port of call in future. With this brilliant design, Chipperfield has succeeded in completing the Museum Island. Clearly in the architectural language of our time, the building nevertheless blends in with the historical ensemble. The James-Simon-Galerie will bear the name of the greatest patron in the history of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin."

Minister Horst Seehofer said on the occasion of the handover of the keys: "The Museum Island is a World Heritage Site. For the Federal Government, the preservation and expansion of the World Heritage Site is of central importance in terms of cultural and building policy. This new building is an excellent example of how the Federal Building Administration is committed to the preservation, but also the contemporary development of cultural values in Germany."

Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters states: "With the James-Simon-Galerie, Berlin's Museum Island is gaining an entrance to the world-renowned collections of this Unesco World Heritage Site that is not only functional, but above all architecturally impressive. The new entrance building welcomes visitors with an inviting gesture and prepares them for a journey through several millennia of art and cultural history in Europe and the Mediterranean region. This is the culmination of an idea that was born almost 200 years ago with the completion of the Altes Museum. David Chipperfield has created transparent, modern architecture for this gateway to the treasures of the Museum Island, which incorporates historical elements of the large museum buildings and at the same time opens up to the urban space. The result is an inviting visitor centre that will relieve the museums of service tasks and enable them to devote their spaces entirely to the presentation of their world-class collections."

For David Chipperfield, the James-Simon-Galerie is both a building and a public space: "The building owes its existence to its functions and facilities for the museological programme, but its task is to reorganise the urban relationships and access to the Museum Island. Its role is defined less by its function than by its responsibility as a public building in the heart of the city." Alexander Schwarz, Partner and Design Director, David Chipperfield Architects Berlin: "The James-Simon-Galerie celebrates the accessibility of museums and the treasures they harbour. It extends the public space of the city into the interior of the Museum Island and invites visitors to take a stroll. Museums and the city appear in a new spatial relationship. With colonnades, open staircases and built topography, the new architecture adopts themes already familiar to the Museum Island."

Petra Wesseler, President of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning, which is responsible for project management, emphasises: "The precision and attention to detail in the construction work is impressive. The fact that great importance was attached to proof of material and execution quality as early as the award procedure for the concrete block work has proved its worth. The James-Simon-Galerie is a true enrichment for the Museum Island - both functionally and in terms of design." Today she is handing over the symbolic key to Michael Eissenhauer, Director General of the National Museums in Berlin, who explains: "With the James-Simon-Galerie, the Museum Island Berlin is receiving its central entrance and service building, bringing the Museum Island Masterplan a significant step closer to completion. "We cordially invite our visitors to the grand opening of the building in summer 2019."