The building is adjacent to the neo-Baroque Bode Museum on Museum Island and the Brothers Grimm University Library Center by architect Max Dudler. Architects Harris + Kurrle have created two articulated volumes that are reminiscent of the plastic expressiveness of ancient buildings. Back laid The Hagemeister façade clinker in DF format emphasizes the monumental shape and volume of the building. At the same time, warm earthy beige and gray tones seem to breathe life into this homogeneous façade.
The archaeological center was erected on the territory of the former barracks of Friedrich Engels between Geschwister-Scholl, the Kupfergraben canal embankment and the city train overpass. The obtuse two-piece layout interprets the historical structure of the development in a modern spirit. Together with the adjacent building of the former barracks, the building of the center forms a triangular courtyard, which can be used by researchers of the center for rest during breaks and restorers for work on stone.
The massive clinker façade in a variety of beige and gray tones lends the building an area of almost 11,700 m22 a monumental view from the outside, while inside there appeared rooms that were sufficiently protected from light and therefore safe for sensitive exhibits. Warm tones of clinker fit the new structure into the color palette of the surrounding buildings. The special masonry emphasizes the shape and volume of the building: the rough surface of the Hagemeister clinker, laid on the back side, gives the facade an "archaic" character, and the horizontal orientation emphasizes the elongated silhouette of the building. All the nuances of sorting and even the color of the clinker were specially developed for this project according to the architects' intention.
The visitor to the Archaeological Center finds itself in an abstract light interior with white walls, floors and stairs. The architects abandoned the color scheme so that the space was enlivened only by the presence of employees and exhibits. Interior and exterior finishes are defined by uncompromising purism: a clinker façade of a soil tone that draws attention to the mass and shape of the building, and an abstract whiteness on the inside. The architects Harris und Kurrle created a play of opposites in their project, which sets a plastic accent for the entire area of the Museum Island.
About the project:
Architects: Harris + Kurrle Architekten bda, Stuttgart.
Client: Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (Berlin).
Construction: 2009-2012.
Clinker: Hagemeister design sorting Archäologisches Zentrum, solid and shaped clinker, back masonry, DF format (240 x 115 x 52 mm).
Clinker facade area: 6 200 m2.
Material provided by Hagemeister.
Translated from German: Anastasia Landgraf.
