Built between 1843 and 1855, the Neues museum at Museum Island, originally designed by Prussian architect and builder Friedrich August Stüler, was closed at the beginning of the World War II in 1939 and was heavily damaged during the bombing of Berlin. The rebuilding scheme was led by David Chipperfield Architects in association with UK-based Julian Harrap Architects.
The museum was officially reopened in October 2009. The architects completely reconstructed the northwest wing and the south-east facade, which were destroyed in the war. The reconstruction was carried out in a manner close to the original layout of the museum building. The building now provides a new home for the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection and the Museum of Prehistory and Early History.
The original sequence of rooms was restored with new building sections that create continuity with the existing structure. The new exhibition rooms are made of large format pre-fabricated concrete elements consisting of white cement mixed with Saxonian marble chips. Formed from the same concrete elements, the new main staircase refrences to the original form and is placed within a majestic hall that is preserved as a brick volume without the original ornamentation.
The new Northwest wing, with the Egyptian court and the Apollo risalit, the apse in the Greek courtyard, and the South Dome are built of recycled handmade bricks, complementing the preserved sections. The reinstatement and completion of the mostly preserved colonnade at the Eastern and Southern side of the Neues Museum has re-established the pre-war urban situation to the East.
The award will be presented on 20 June 2011 at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona, Spain.
The other finalists for the Mies van der Rohe Award were: Bronks Youth Theatre in Brussels, Belgium designed by Martine De Maeseneer, Dirk Van den Brande; MAXXI: Museum of XXI Century Arts in Rome, Italy by Zaha Hadid, Patrick Schumacher, Gianluca Racana; Concert House Danish Radio in Copenhagen, Denmark by Jean Nouvel; Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece by Bernard Tschumi; and Rehabilitation Centre Groot Klimmendaal in Arnhem, The Netherlands by Koen van Velsen.
The museum has also won various international awards previously, including the 2010 Crown Estate Conservation Award, and a 2010 RIBA Award. The project was also instrumental in securing the RIBA’s 2011 Royal Gold Medal and 2010 Wolf Foundation Prize in the Arts (Architecture) to Sir David Chipperfield.
