Completed in 1968, the building, the only one built by a master of modernism in his homeland after World War II, has never undergone a "major" restoration. Finally, from 2015 to 2018, the museum will be closed for modernization: the facades and steel frame, all utilities, including the lighting system, will be renovated; the cafe, museum shop and wardrobe will be redesigned.
24 architectural bureaus fought for the right to take care of the monument. The announcement of the winner was obviously timed to coincide with Mies's birthday: on March 27 he would have turned 126 years old. The appointment of David Chipperfield was announced by the President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation Hermann Parzinger: according to him, "the icon of modernism will be in good hands." He knows what he is talking about: "sensitivity in handling the architectural heritage" the British master has already demonstrated in an exemplary
reconstruction of the New Museum, also owned by the foundation. This project has been honored with the Mies van der Rohe Prize, an EU architectural award, which seems to underscore the choice of the same author for the renovation for the New National Gallery.
Also, one cannot fail to note a certain congeniality of Chipperfield and Mees: in the work of the Briton one can find both direct references to the works of his predecessor, and a similar, almost classical adjustment of rhythm and proportions.
For the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which manages the main museums in the German capital, Chipperfield also designed the unifying buildings of the Museum Island
lobby. Its construction will complete the reconstruction of the unique ensemble protected by UNESCO.
But not all of David Chipperfield's work is in the sphere of high culture: this week in Hollywood, the boutique of the Valentino fashion house, created by his design, was inaugurated.
N. F.
