Berlin (Germany)

Bauhaus Museum Extension

(Cultural) (Cultural)

(More information) (More information)

A direct dialogue with the original building by Walter Gropius

The proposed project reflects an architecture that places its emphasis on the urban dimension, the valorisation and redefinition of public spaces. It transforms the urban landscape, maintains the existing architectural heritage and offers new public and shared places.

The urban landscape is transformed by the construction, the positioning, the volume, the form of the new building, whose meaning is itself a product of the urban context. A building that proposes roots firmly anchored in its place, but whose attention is focused on other places in the world.
The proposal establishes a dialogue with the Gropius building determined by two procedures that define the geometry of the structure that configures the volume of the virtual prism:
1. A concave curve subtracted from the shed roofs of Bauhaus Archives, which has its imprint in the homothetic geometry of the shed-like main entrance of the new building. This gesture, which characterises the cross-section of the volume, points towards the public square.
2. Another cutting action, in the eastern half of the building, has a double objective: on the one hand, it reduces the volume and therefore the impact of the new building on the existing one and, at the same time, it increases the presence and greater visibility from the street. On the other hand, it constitutes one of the most important outdoor spaces of the project: a new public square in the centre of the plot, which is both a point of articulation between the two buildings as well as an intermediary space for the architecture.
The new cut-outs and openings in the virtual volume provide an appropriate and effective relationship with the surrounding streets, always trying to propose a building that blends in naturally and calmly with its surroundings.
The building is characterised by its formal configuration, capable of extending its new spatial situations outwards. Inside, the spaces are arranged in a versatile way and can be adapted to a wide variety of activities and schedules.

Project

Bauhaus Museum Extension

Authors

Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra + Bakpak

Location

Berlin, Spain

Customer

Berlin City Planning Department

State

Competition

Programme

Museum

Surface

8.260 m2

Partners

Engineering companies: BAC Ingenieros

Contributors: Christophe Beraldin, Alberto Brunello, Ellen Mekiffer, Anna Didi, Cosimo Marchiori, Andrea Sforzin.

An extension that transforms the urban landscape without sacrificing the value of the existing heritage.

The proposal establishes a direct dialogue with Walter Gropius' original building through two geometric operations that sculpt the volume of the new museum. A concave curve, derived from the saw-toothed roofs of the Bauhaus Archiv, configures both the section of the new building and the geometry of its main entrance, oriented towards the public square.

A concave curve sculpts the main entrance and characterises the section of the new building.

The new museum is conceived as a volume capable of expanding its spatial conditions outwards. The interiors are organised with great versatility, adapting to multiple uses and programming, while the cut-outs and openings of the volume ensure a natural, calm and balanced insertion into the surrounding urban fabric.

A strategic cut in the volume reduces the visual impact and creates a central public square.

The new central square functions as a mediating space between the historic building and the extension.

The extension of the Bauhaus Museum in Berlin proposes an architecture that is profoundly linked to the urban dimension. The project transforms the public landscape, redefines the relationship between building and city and opens up new possibilities for shared space, while respecting the heritage value of the existing complex.