The Jewish Museum Berlin held a press conference yesterday to reveal
the design by
Daniel
Libeskind for the Jewish Museum Berlin Academy. Mr. Libeskind
designed both the Jewish Museum Berlin (completed 2001) and the Glass
Courtyard (completed 2007) which is an extension to the original
building.
More images and complete press release after the break.
“We are delighted that we could again win Daniel Libeskind as architect,
whose signature is closely bound with the success of the Jewish Museum
Berlin. Together with the existing two Libeskind buildings – the
zinc-coated museum building and the glass courtyard on the old building –
a fascinating new building ensemble will emerge” commented W. Michael
Blumenthal, Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin.
The Jewish Museum Berlin plans to construct an academy on the site of
the former Berlin Flower Market (Blumengrossmarkt) by using the
existing hall. Located across from the Jewish Museum Berlin, the new JMB
Academy will unite library, archives, educational and public programs
under one roof and will offer additional office, storage and support
spaces for the Museum. Mr. Libeskind has designed a new entrance while
maintaining the hall structure thereby establishing a cultural use for
the space with the option of future expansion.
The Academy is being integrated into the ensemble of historical
Kollegienhaus (the old museum building) and the Libeskind designed JMB
Extension, which was opened in September 2001. The design for the
Academy employs a tilted cube penetrating the outer wall of the hall
creating a counterpart to the Museum’s main entrance and the head of the
Extension building on the other side of Lindenstrasse. The shape of the
cube carries the common theme that can be found elsewhere in the JMB’s
Garden of Exile as well as in the Glass Court.
Skylights in form of the Hebrew letters Alef and Bet refer to
learning and to the functions of education, library and archive at the
same time. The walls are clad with titan zinc plate panels. A cut opens
in the entrance cube, through which the visitor enters the Academy and
the hall. In the hall visitors find two more cubes, which are tilted
towards each other, containing the lecture hall and the library. They
are clad with rough timber boards, reminding of transportation boxes as
much as of the ark.
Between the three cubes perspectives emerge offering various views
into the space of the hall and its roof lights as well as onto the new
piazza in front of the building. These interstitial spaces form the
interface between the public functions of the Academy and at the same
time their visual connection to the Kollegienhaus and the Extension
building. Other rooms are located in functional one-storey structures
along the exterior wall and in the basement. The unoccupied areas of the
hall will be used as an interior garden. The spatial continuity of the
hall will be maintained and ready for future uses.
“I am thrilled to be making another contribution to the Jewish Museum
Berlin. The Academy’s program will continue and enliven the JMB’s
tradition of education and historical understanding and will further
outreach to the community” stated Mr. Libeskind.
from archdaily
