Gipsformerei: Sustainable Building Solutions Wanted!
News from 01/27/2022
A design competition has been launched for the overhaul and extension of the Gipsformerei of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The brief calls for a preliminary design that is sustainable, functional and architecturally compelling.
On January 25, 2022, the Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung (Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning) launched a design competition on behalf of the SPK. It called for proposals for the full refurbishment and extension of the Gipsformerei (Replica Workshop) of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin). The goal of the competition is to arrive at a sustainable, functional and architecturally compelling preliminary design and to find a suitable team of architects.
In addition to being a highly productive manufacturing workshop, the Gipsformerei of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin also holds a large collection of historical molds and master models based on works of art and cultural objects from almost every period and geographical region. Its mold-making workshop, painting studio and storerooms are located in a building that was erected in 1889–91 in Sophie-Charlotten-Strasse, in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district.
In the coming years, the existing structure will be fully refurbished and a new building will be added in order to address the growing space requirements for the casting molds and the historical collection. When completed, the overall ensemble is expected to form a forward-looking manufacturing and storage location that optimizes work processes, provides for development of the scope of work, and raises the public profile of the Gipsformerei.
The competition brief contains special requirements for sustainable and resource-saving construction. The construction should follow the low-tech principle, which promotes robust, low-maintenance architectural solutions over technically sophisticated solutions.