Berlin James-Simon-Galerie asv2019-07 img2

Hermann Rückwardt - Eiserne Brücke (1916)

The James Simon Gallery (german: James-Simon-Galerie) is a centrally located visitor center and art gallery between the reconstructed

Neues Museum The Neues Museum (English: ''New Museum'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. Built from 1843 to 1855 by order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia in Neoclassical and Renaissance Revival styles, it ...

and the ''Kupfergraben'' arm of the

Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers' ...

river on

Museum Island The Museum Island (german: Museumsinsel) is a museum complex on the northern part of the Spree Island in the historic heart of Berlin. It is one of the most visited sights of Germany's capital and one of the most important museum sites in Europ ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Germany. Designed by architect

David Chipperfield Sir David Alan Chipperfield, (born 18 December 1953) is an English architect. He established David Chipperfield Architects in 1985. His major works include the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (1989–1998); the Museum ...

, the gallery is named after the

Henri James Simon (Henri) James Simon (17 September 185123 May 1932) was a German-Jewish entrepreneur, art collector, philanthropist and patron of the arts during the Wilhelmine period. He donated most of his significant collections to the Berlin State Museums, inc ...

(1851–1932) who brought worldwide fame to the

Berlin State Museums The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...

with his lavish donations. As the ensemble's sixth building, the gallery has a prominent position at the site of the former ''Packhof'' designed by

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassica ...

, which was demolished in 1938, and its design is inspired by the construction history of Museum Island.

History

Chipperfield's first designs for the James Simon Gallery featured plain cubes with a hull of satin glass and steel, causing various protests. In 2004, an official panel recommended to Parliament that the government abandon plans for the entrance building, which led to an extensive revision in 2007. The design of the reception building consisted of a stone basement, framed by a modern continuation of

Friedrich August Stüler Friedrich August Stüler (28 January 1800 – 18 March 1865) was an influential Prussian architect and builder. His masterpiece is the Neues Museum in Berlin, as well as the dome of the triumphal arch of the main portal of the Berliner Schloss. ...

's colonnades at the

Alte Nationalgalerie The Alte Nationalgalerie ( ''Old National Gallery'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the Mitte (locality), historic centre of Berlin, Germany. The gallery was built from 1862 to 1876 by the order of King Frederick William IV of Prussi ...

. Originally planned at a cost of $94 million, the $157 million project was completed in July 2019 and opened to the public after an opening ceremony on July 13, 2019. The gallery saw 26,000 visitors on its first opening day. It took over nine years to build and cost 134 million Euros, almost twice as much the planned budget of 71 million Euros.

Design

Similar to the

Louvre Pyramid The Louvre Pyramid (Pyramide du Louvre) is a large glass and metal structure designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei. The pyramid is in the main courtyard ( Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace in Paris, surrounded by three smalle ...

, the James Simon Gallery is designed to receive the visitors for the island, offer them orientation, and direct them to the exhibits featured on the main circuit. A broad staircase leads up in three flights to an elevated plateau with a line of 70 white concrete columns that stand almost nine metres high but less than 30 centimetres thick. The building provides a 300-seat auditorium, with concrete walls cast in pleated acoustic folds; a media centre; a 600 sq metre space for temporary exhibitions; a bookstore; shops; cafés and restaurants for all of Museum Island.Oliver Wainwright (July 8, 2019)
David Chipperfield's Berlin temple: 'Like ascending to the realm of the gods'
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

External links

James Simon-Galerie on museumsinsel-berlin.dePicture

References

{{coord, 52, 31, 14, N, 13, 23, 52, E, type:landmark_region:DE-BE, display=title Berlin State Museums Museum Island 2019 establishments in Germany