James Simon's building will be located on the site of Karl-Friedrich Schinkel's warehouse, demolished in 1939, next to the Pergamon Museum, on the banks of the Kupfergraben Canal and directly in front of the New Museum. Its architect David Chipperfield created the second version of the building's appearance, and the first was designed back in 2001. Then the glass volume seemed to the management of the State Museums in Berlin and UNESCO representatives (the Museum Island is under the protection of this organization) as too radical a project. At the same time, there were problems with financing, and its implementation was postponed.
But the need for a single lobby, combined with office space, at the main Berlin museum ensemble became more and more urgent, so in 2006 the German government allocated 73 million euros for the project, and Chipperfield was asked to redesign the original version of the building.
According to the architect, he subjected his first version of the James Simon building to "deconstruction": a single volume turned into a series of colonnades, and glass was replaced by natural stone. Slender pillars, creating a collective image of the "classics" without literal repetition of architectural forms, continue the colonnade of "Pergamon" and emphasize the facade of the New Museum located behind them. This is how a small, pillared courtyard is formed, in which the main entrance building itself is located. Visitors enter it from the end, climbing the wide grand staircase, which also meets the spirit of the Museum Island.
Chipperfield's revised project delighted the director of the State Museums in Berlin, Klaus-Peter Schuster. He compared the future building with a majestic antique temple, while also mentioning the "minimalism of Mies van der Rohe". The James Simon Corps was also highly appreciated by the representatives of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The new building will complement the Museum Island with the necessary infrastructure: despite the fact that it is one of the largest museum complexes in the world, there are almost no outbuildings there. But when its reconstruction in 2012 is completed, the island will be able to compete even with the Louvre for world leadership in this area.
