To celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Bauhaus in 2019, the Bauhaus-Archiv/Museum für Gestaltung is being renovated in accordance with historic monument requirements during the next few years, with a new museum building being added. This web site will be providing information about everything to do with current developments in the construction work.
n e w s
Update from the construction site – May 2020
The construction work underground continues. Via jet grouting, cement columns are being injected into the ground at a depth of 20 metres. The 700 columns are each 1 meter long and have a diameter of 3.5 meters. Lined up in a row, they will seal the excavation pit of the extension building.
Update from the construction site – March 2020
Despite delayed winter weather and the Corona-related shutdown, construction work in Klingelhöferstraße continues.
Construction fence artwork by Boa Mistura
During the grey winter months (and beyond), the construction fence around the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung on Klingelhöferstraße is standing stand out with a colourful artwork by the Spanish collective Boa Mistura. Walter Gropius' claim "Dem Menschen von heute die Wohnung von heute!" ("The modern apartment for the modern man") in an essay from 1930 is at the centre of the 240-metre-long urban artwork.
Watch the Making-of
Update from the construction site – September 2019
On our museum premises in Klingelhöferstraße, construction work is pogressing. Since the new exhibition space will be located in the basement, an excavation pit up to 12 metres deep will have to be excavated. Large silos with suspension liquid are ready to fill the sealing walls of the pit before concrete will be injected.
Groundbreaking Ceremony
The groundbreaking ceremony on 11 June 2019 marked the commencement of the renovation and expansion of the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung.
_GLAVE.jpg?w=395 "Berliner Architekt Volker Staab mit seinem Team, Foto: Hans Glave")
Interview with Volker Staab, Staab Architects Berlin
Berlin architect Volker Staab informs about his winning design for the new Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung.
Lesetipp: Verwandte Unikate
Florian Heilmeyer hat gemeinsam mit Staab Architekten im Dezember 2016 eine Monografie zu einigen Projekten dieses renommierten Architekturbüros veröffentlicht. Das Büro Staab Architekten wird auch die Sanierung und Erweiterung des Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung übernehmen.
even more museum?! today’s new museum buildings
There is construction being done in Weimar, Dessau and Berlin: in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus’s founding, the three Bauhaus institutions will be receiving new buildings to enable them to deal appropriately with their growing collections’ spatial requirements and the needs of a modern museum. The Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung in Berlin held a public conference to jointly discuss topics involved in the context of today’s museum building projects...
Staab architects win architectural competition
The winner of the closed competition for the ‘Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung, Berlin’, announced in June 2015 by the Senate Administration for Urban Development and the Environment, has been decided following a two-day meeting of the jury on 21 and 22 October 2015. The jury has awarded the first prize to the design submitted by Berlin architect Volker Staab and has recommended that the design should be implemented.
Further eight architects are prizewinners
Winner of the competition is Staab architects, four more prizes and four worthy of mention were given to international architects. The competition jury, made up of well-known specialists and chaired by the architect Hilde Léon, Berlin, decided as follows after detailed discussions ...
Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung zeigt Siegerentwurf und Preisträger des Architekturwettbewerbs
Die Ausstellung „Moving forward. Siegerentwurf und Preisträger für das neue Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung“ präsentiert den Siegerentwurf von Staab Architekten und die weiteren mit Preisen ausgezeichneten Entwürfe des Architekturwettbewerbs im Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung.
Ausstellung aller Wettbewerbsbeiträge im HO, Berlin
Das Land Berlin präsentiert vom 6. bis 25. November 2015 im HO, Berlin alle im Architekturwettbewerb für die Sanierung und Erweiterung des Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung eingereichten Entwürfe. Neben den fünf Preisträgern und den vier Anerkennungen werden die weiteren 32 Beiträge vorgestellt.
b u i l d i n g p r o j e c t
On the occasion of the Bauhaus anniversary in 2019, the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung in Berlin is being renovated and extended so as to meet the requirements of running a museum and archive in the 21st century. The existing building, designed by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, is being renovated in accordance with historic monument requirements and being extended with the addition of a new building. The Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung holds the world’s most extensive collection of materials on the history of the Bauhaus. The building, opened in 1979, has now become too small and is no longer able to do justice to the increased demands on a museum that also serves as an archive. Visitor numbers have doubled during the last 10 years; in 2014, a total of 115,000 people interested in the Bauhaus visited the building. In the future, the functions of the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung are to be distributed across two buildings. The intention is to use the existing building for the archive, while the annexe building will be used as the museum. The federal and state governments share the total costs of the renovation and expansion amounting to € 64.3 million.
existing
building
building
construction area
Opened: 1979
Floor space: 1900 m²
Current exhibition area: 700 m²
Current purpose: archive, library and museum with events area
Purpose after renovation: archive, library and events area
Construction costs (renovation): € 17.4 million
Estimated construction period: 2018–2022
The existing building is a late work by the founder of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius. He designed it in 1964 for a site in the Rosenhöhe park in Darmstadt for the Bauhaus-Archiv, which had been founded in 1960. However, it was not possible to implement the plan there. The building was only constructed, with modifications, after Gropius’s death and after the Bauhaus-Archiv had moved to Berlin. The replanning was carried out by Gropius’s former assistant Alex Cvijanovic, together with the Berlin architect Hans Bandel. The foundation-stone for the building was laid in 1976 and it was formally opened in December 1979.
Now listed on the historic register, the building, with a gross floor area of 3900 m² and the floor space of 1900 m², is now to be renovated in accordance with historic monument requirements, preserving its architectural qualities, and is to be made more energy-efficient. Alterations in its usage are being planned and carried out in consistency with the building’s major importance in architectural history. In general, the existing building will be used in the future for archive, library and event purposes, for conservation of the collection and for administrative work.
Purpose: Museum
Floor space: 4.200 m²
Exhibition area: 2000 m²
Construction costs: € 39.8 million
Estimated construction period: 2018-2022
The extension, consisting of several elements, will be located on the western part of the property, between Landwehrkanal, Klingelhöferstrasse and Von-der-Heydt-Strasse. The new building is to house the museum and exhibition areas, visitor services, Bauhaus shop, Bauhaus café, and workshops with parts of the collection. As a museum of design, the new building is intended to meet every requirement expected of a 21st-century exhibition building. In addition to temporary special exhibitions, the new museum building will be used to present the world’s largest and most multifaceted collection of Bauhaus materials.
c o m p e t i t i o n
The winner of the closed competition for the ‘Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung, Berlin’, announced in June 2015 by the Senate Administration for Urban Development and the Environment, has been decided following a two-day meeting of the jury on 21 and 22 October 2015. The jury has awarded the first prize to the design submitted by Berlin architect Volker Staab and has recommended that the design should be implemented.
A total of 50 architectural offices were invited to take part in the competition. Fifteen of the participants were set, and a further 35 were drawn by lots in a prior EU-wide competition procedure. Forty-one offices submitted designs.
The prize is worth € 190,000 (First Prize: 47.500 Euro, Second Prize: 38.000 Euro, Third Prize: 28.500 Euro, Forth Prize: 22.500 Euro, Fifth Prize: 15.500 Euro, 4 Worthy of Mention each 9.500 Euro).
In the future, the functions of the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung in Berlin will be spread across two buildings. The existing building is intended to house the archive, while the extension building, with a gross floor area of around 6700 square meters, will be used for the Museum für Gestaltung. The existing listed building is to be carefully renovated while preserving its architectural quality, its striking appearance and its historic substance, and it will be made more energy-efficient. The functional adjustments will be planned with full consideration for the building’s high architectural value.
The Federal Government and the state of Berlin are each contributing to the cost of the renovation and extension project amounting to € 64.3 million. A total of € 17.4 million will be used for renovation of the existing listed building by Walter Gropius, and € 39.8 million will be used for the extension building.
Expert adjudicators: Jo Coenen, Hilde Léon, Wolfgang Lorch, Elke Delugan-Meissl, Pat Tanner, Johannes Löbbert, Petra Vondenhof-Anderhalten, stellvertretend: Brigitte Häntsch
Procedural adjudicators: Regula Lüscher, Tim Renner, Dr. Sigrid Bias-Engels, Günther Hoffmann, Dr. Annemarie Jaeggi, Dr. Niklas Maak, deputies: Hermann-Josef Pohlmann, Dr. Konrad Schmidt-Werthern, Rosa Schmitt-Neubauer, Horst Grothues, Dr. Markus Klimmer, Chris Dercon, Dr. Kerstin Wittmann-Englert
p r i z e w i n n e r s
The winner of the closed competition for the ‘Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung, Berlin’ is the architectural office Staab architects, Berlin.
1st prize
other prizewinners
2nd Prize: Bruno Fioretti Marquez Architekten, Berlin, Verfasser: Piero Bruno, photo: © H. - J. Wuthenow
3rd Prize: ARGE sinning architekten, stinner architekten GmbH, Darmstadt, Verfasser: Norbert Sinning, Franz Stinner, photo: © H. - J. Wuthenow
4th Prize: dasch zürn architekten, Stuttgart, Verfasser: Helmut Dasch, Joachim Zürn, photo: © H. - J. Wuthenow
5th Prize: EM2N Architekten, Zürich, Verfasser: Daniel Niggli, Mathias Müller, Fabian Hörmann, Foto: © H. - J. Wuthenow
Worthy of mention: F29 Architekten GmbH, Dresden, Verfasser: Christian Schmitz, photo: © H. - J. Wuthenow
Worthy of mention: AFF architekten, Berlin, Verfasser: Martin Fröhlich, Jens Fröhlich, Ulrike Dix, Monic Frahn, Sascha Schulz, photo: © H. - J. Wuthenow
Worthy of mention: Konermann Siegmund Architekten, Hamburg
Worthy of mention: PPAG architects ztgmbh, Wien, Verfasser: Anna Popelka, Georg Poduschka, photo: © H. - J. Wuthenow