AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.12.2003, Síða 41

the unique location, presented a spe-
cial challenge. This new building for
temporary exhibitions was I. M. Pei’s
first project in Germany. The archi-
tect rose to international fame with
his design of the glass pyramid in the
Louvre, Paris. Transparency and
movement are also the underlying
ideas of the present scheme, and
they found expression in the glazed
staircase tower, a three-dimensional
steel-and-glass structure.
In order to comply with the clients’
wish for two buildings that could be
operated independently of each
other, it was necessary to create two
separate entrances. The main
entrance is through a large revolving
door from the road behind the
foundry building. Here, visitors enter
a brightly-lit, glazed hall that conveys
an impressive sense of space,
despite the tightness of the site. At
this level, the staircase tower is laid
out as a waiting area, with a periph-
eral granite bench. From here,
German Historical Museum,
Berlin
A Masterpiece in Glass and Steel
Anne-Marie Ring-Heber, Journalist
At the junction of the two roads
behind the foundry building
(Giesshaus) and the armoury
(Zeughaus) in Berlin lies what is
probably the finest „rear entrance” to
the city, as a local newspaper wrote.
In this historical location, architect I.
M. Pei has struck an exciting new
note in the form of a glazed staircase
tower. The architects Eller + Eller
were responsible for the implementa-
tion of the scheme, with Christiane
Flasche as project architect. The
partly two-dimensional, curved glaz-
ing for the spiraling tower, was sup-
plied by the Finnish glass-bending
specialists Tambest Oy.
In 1987, the Federal Republic of
Germany and the State of Berlin
signed the founding agreement to
establish the German Museum of
History. It was to be the West
German equivalent of the Museum
for German History, which had exist-
ed in East Berlin since 1952. The
planning took many years and under-
went numerous changes. The reunifi-
cation of Germany marked a surpris-
ing turn in the fortunes of the
scheme. Instead of continuing its
operations as an independent institu-
tion, the old East German Museum
for German History, which was locat-
ed in the armoury building, was
made over with its entire stock
moved to the new German Museum
of History on a loan basis. On 3
October 1990, the armoury and its
collections passed into the hands of
the German Museum of History for
temporary use.
Originally dating from the Baroque
period, the armoury is situated
immediately next to two important
buildings by Schinkel, the New
Guard House (Neue Wache) and the
Old Museum. The armoury was to
accommodate a permanent exhibi-
tion, while temporary displays were
to be housed in the new structure.
Both buildings will operate independ-
ently of each other, but as a com-
bined organisation. The only suitable
site for the new facilities was the area
north of the armoury, where the
workshops and depot for the
Museum for German History had
been erected towards the end of the
1950s.
For the sensitive task of placing a
new building on this site, which is
tucked away between other develop-
ments, the German government was
able to draw on the expertise of the
Chinese architect leoh Ming Pei, who
lives in New York. The new museum
was to assert ítself in the face of the
neighbouring buildings without com-
peting with them. The urban planning
difficulties, together with the architec-
tural importance of the project and
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