On the current debate about the Museum of the 20th Century at the National Gallery at the Kulturforum
Press release from 10/30/2019
In its issue of 30 October 2019, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported on the Nationalgalerie's planned 20th century museum at Berlin's Kulturforum. The article "Very, very much space" by Jörg Häntzschel distorts key aspects of the new building. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation corrects some points below:
- Accusation of lack of transparency: The SPK has repeatedly presented the plans and planning steps for the new building to the public and documented them in detail on the Nationalgalerie website20 . The ideas competition and realisation competition were also documented in detail in the volume "Ein Neubau für die Nationalgalerie - Der Wettbewerb für das Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts", which was published by Kerber Verlag in June 2018 (49 euros). It was also repeatedly emphasised that costs should only be named once a reliable cost calculation is available. And precisely because transparency is important, index increases and risk costs were also communicated. This was last communicated at the SPK press conference on 16 September.
- Accusation of a lack of ideas for the content: clear visions for the "Museum of the 20th Century" were already set out in the competition documents. For example, the presentation of the holdings is to include cultural and socio-historical contexts as well as current issues, as various exhibition formats at the Nationalgalerie have already demonstrated very successfully in recent years. A strongly interdisciplinary approach will be pursued, involving other institutions of the National Museums: "Archival materials and documentation accompany and deepen the art experience and discourse, as do examples from music and film history or live performances. (...) Opportunities for participation, dialogue and current debates should also be possible in the exhibition spaces, in the immediate vicinity of the artworks. (...) The existing cross-connections in terms of content (literature, music, design, film history) at the Kulturforum cultural and scientific location should (...) be revitalised and expanded". (Quote from the tender text for the realisation competition, June 2016).
- The 2014 Bundestag resolution and the 200 million: The basis for the Bundestag's estimate of 200 million euros in autumn 2014 was the variant study from 2012/2013, which had estimated costs of 179.4 million euros for a new building on Potsdamer Strasse with around 9,200 square metres of exhibition space and 14,000 square metres of total space. Due to the development of construction prices, the budget was rounded up to 200 million euros in autumn 2014. In the variant analysis from summer 2013, costs of 179 million euros had already been calculated for all three locations examined.
- Regarding the Potsdamer Strasse site: The SPK's position paper from August 2013, in which the foundation had spoken out in favour of a smaller version (9,900 square metres of usable space, 7,400 square metres of exhibition space) on Sigismundstrasse, was never adopted and was not pursued further. Firstly, because there was no money available for this smaller version either, and secondly, because the site on Sigismundstrasse (6,500 m² of space, which would have been significantly reduced due to the required distances from the neighbouring residential buildings) appeared to be too limited to adequately accommodate the spatial programme and allow for visible architecture. In addition, the Sigismundstrasse site would have had to be built significantly lower and higher in order to achieve the required area. In addition, the collectors had also spoken out against the location. By way of comparison, the site on Potsdamer Strasse has an area of 10,200 square metres. Only the location at the Kulturforum allowed the entire space programme to be implemented. With the allocation of funds in autumn 2014, the decision was also made in favour of the Potsdamer Straße site. On this basis, the competitions were launched (the required exhibition space here was also around 9,000 square metres) as well as the consultations with the state of Berlin and local residents on the development plan, which was finally approved by consensus in 2018. The interests of the church and listed buildings were of course taken into account.
- Enlargement of the museum space: The variant study by the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning, which was commissioned in October 2012 and in which three locations were examined (Sigismundstraße, Tiergartenstraße, Potsdamer Straße), assumed a total area of 14,000 square metres and an exhibition area of 9,200 square metres. This number of square metres was confirmed time and time again in all variant studies and cost estimates. Herzog & de Meuron are also planning 9,000 square metres of exhibition space. The total usable area of just under 14,700 square metres awarded in the competition process did not yet include a requirement plan in square metres for certain parts of the usable areas (e.g. sanitary facilities, washrooms, changing rooms, cleaning rooms, storage rooms, etc.), as these are only to be provided for by the engineers in accordance with the actual requirements in the planning due to the regulations of the RBBau. In the usable area of 15,956 square metres shown in the current draft, these required usable areas have now been calculated with concrete figures.
- Increase in costs: The cost calculation from September 2019 provides the first well-founded figures for the new museum at the Kulturforum. The concrete calculation assumes construction costs of 364.2 million euros for the new building. After consultation with the Federal Minister of Finance, 52.2 million euros can also be added for future construction index increases and 33.8 million euros for risk costs, bringing the total to 450.2 million euros.
- How did this come about? The Kulturforum is a challenging urban development site in the heart of the capital that is visible to everyone. What is created here will be recognised worldwide and stands for the cultural self-image of the country. It is therefore right to place the highest quality demands on the building. This requires very good and selected materials, building constructions and technical solutions. The works on display represent a total of billions in assets, most of which belong to the public sector and must be presented in an appropriate conservational manner. Added to this are valuable permanent loans. This places high demands on the air-conditioning technology, especially as the building is to be accessible in the mornings and evenings independently of the museum's opening hours. The planned new building comes at a time when construction prices are higher than ever before and the heated economy in the construction sector continues to cause extreme price increases. This is one of the reasons for the high construction costs. However, the calculated price increase of 52.2 million was communicated at the same time so that future index increases can be absorbed. This sum is solely due to market developments and would be incurred in the same percentage for any other public or private construction project. The foundation of the museum is a further cost factor: as the development plan necessitated a reduction in the floor plan (greater distance from Sigismundstrasse and St Matthew's Church), the lost space had to be compensated for by a larger basement for technology, storage and work areas. In addition, the construction site was difficult to set up, as there was hardly any space on the site itself next to the excavation pit to accommodate cranes, containers and storage areas for building materials.
- Completion of the Kulturforum: Herzog & de Meuron's design will finally eliminate the urban wasteland that has existed for decades. The Scharounplatz and the open spaces between the new building and the museums at the Kulturforum will create traffic-calmed, atmospherically beautiful squares and places.