Successful interplay of landscape architecture and art - decision of the interdisciplinary competition for outdoor facilities and art in the building of the plaster moulding workshop of the National Museums in Berlin
Press release from 12/23/2024
A Berlin team from the disciplines of landscape architecture and art will design the outdoor areas of the plaster moulding workshop of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (SMB) following its basic restoration and extension. With their design, the offices 100Landschaftsarchitektur and studiofutura with the artist Barbara Wille prevailed against numerous competitors in this interdisciplinary competition. The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR) organised the competition on behalf of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK). All the competition results were presented on 17 December in the Ernst Reuter House in Berlin. The exhibition can be seen until 15 January.
The new building was to be designed with landscape architectural, horticultural and artistic elements. In addition, it had to fulfil the unique use of the plaster moulding shop as a museum archive and manufacturing factory as well as the associated functional and representative requirements. Another important aspect is the stay of employees and guests. The team from 100Landschaftsarchitektur and studiofutura with Barbara Wille from Berlin impressed the jury with their design, securing 1st prize. "The work is characterised by a consistent interlocking of artistic and landscape architectural design elements, as an amalgam of both disciplines, in the creative and artistic implementation," says the jury's assessment of the first-placed team.
The landscape architectural design focusses on geometrically shaped hedge and tree elements of a French garden. These form a clear contrast to free or unshaped landscape elements. The focus is clearly on the functionality of the outdoor facilities. Uniform ramps and decks made of metal grating are used in the peripheral zones, emphasising the grid character of the design. In the entrance area and in the inner courtyard, two columns with egg shapes arranged on top of each other will be created as artistic elements, with a variety of references to art history and architecture. "The recurring elements of the sculpture are a fitting analogy to the activity and methods of plaster moulding."
The jury also awarded two third prizes. The winners are SINAI Gesellschaft von Landschaftsarchitekten mbH, Berlin with Karin Sander from Berlin and GM013 Landschaftsarchitektur, Berlin with Wie-yi T. Lauw from Berlin.
The competition area for the outdoor facilities covers an area of around 2,500 square metres, which is divided into three areas: a listed front garden including the entrance area to the salesroom, a central courtyard and an open space between the new building and the tracks of the Berlin S-Bahn.
The competition was announced in March 2024 and was a non-open, single-phase anonymous planning competition for the disciplines of landscape architecture and art. The jury met in Berlin on 27 November 2024 under the direction of landscape architect Timo Herrmann. The jury consisted of expert judges from the fields of landscape architecture and art as well as expert judges from the SMB, the SPK and the BBR. 20 teams were selected from 31 applications and 18 works were submitted.
From 18 December 2024 to 15 January 2025, all competition entries will be exhibited in the foyer of the Ernst-Reuter-Haus, the Berlin office of the BBR. The exhibition is open from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 8 pm, except on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December 2024 and 1 January 2025. Admission is free.
Complete renovation and extension of the plaster moulding workshop
The plaster moulding workshop of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (SMB) is located in a listed building from the 1890s in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Due to the structural condition of the premises and the considerable amount of space required, the building is undergoing a complete refurbishment and will be extended by a new building. The architectural firm von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) won the planning competition, which was also organised by the BBR, in 2022.