Three Phases to the Winning Design

The Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz chose a two-part process to arrive at the winning design for the new museum building at the Kulturforum.

An open ideas competition entitled “The Museum of the 20th Century and its Integration into the Urban Environment” was held before the actual design competition. Ten prizewinners from the ideas competition qualified to enter the design competition.

The design competition is a two-phase process. In the first phase, an additional 19 teams of architects and landscape architects qualified in a worldwide competition. In addition, 13 architecture firms were invited to take part in the design competition.

Now the field of entrants for the second phase – the final round of the design competition – consists of 42 shared offices made up of architects and landscape architects.

Visual presentation of the individual stages on a timeline. The stages are: November 2014–January 2015: Project team appointed January 2015–June 2015: Space allocation plan developed and documentation for competition announcement compiled; agreement with the State of Berlin June–July 2015: Agenda point for the Budget Committee of the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament; finances allocated August 24, 2015: Jurors’ preliminary meeting September 3, 2015: Announcement of the ideas competition September 3–December 15, 2015: Ideas competition entry submission period January 2016: Preliminary examination February 8–10, 2016: Jurors’ meeting February 25–March 13, 2016: "Ideas Competition Museum of the 20th Century" exhibition March–May 2016: Revision of the documents for the design competition announcement April 11–May 30, 2016: Competition for eligibility June 16, 2016: Jurors’ preliminary meeting June 24–late September 2016: Design competition entry submission period Until late 2016: Preliminary examination, jury, presentation of winning entry, exhibit of design competition results
Timetable November 2014–late 2016: Organization of the competition process © SPK / Claudia Fritzsche, Julia Lerche

From Bundestag Resolution to Jury Decision in 24 Months

On November 13, 2014, the Budget Committee of the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, approved the funds for a new building at the Kulturforum. The competition process for realizing the project was drawn up and set in motion in the following months.

The ideas competition was announced on September 3, 2015 and the deadline for submitting designs was set for mid-December of 2015. The jury met to determine the winners of the first phase in February 2016.

The worldwide competition was launched on April 16, 2016 and interested architects were invited to submit their applications by May 13, 2016. The preliminary document review was completed by late May 2016.

In late June 2016, the 42 participating shared offices received the documents for the design competition. The deadline for turning in designs and models was end of September 2016. The jury session took place in late October 2016.

Parties to the proceedings

Federal Republic of Germany represented by The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Minister of State Prof. Monika Grütters, Member of Parliament

Awarding authority: Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation)

User: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (National Museums in Berlin – Prussian Cultural Heritage)

Project management: Partnerschaften Deutschland ÖPP Deutschland AG

Competition supervisor: ARGE WBW-M20: Salomon Schindler (Schindler Friede Architekten) and Marc Steinmetz (a:dks mainz berlin)

in coordination with: Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment, State of Berlin