Precedent Study - The Jewish Museum
Summary
Precedent Focus - Atmosphere Through Control of Natural Light
The Jewish Museum Berlin, exhibits the social, political and cultural history of the Jews in Germany from the fourth century to the present, explicitly presenting and integrating, for the first time in postwar Germany, the repercussions of the Holocaust.
Architect - Daniel Libeskind Location - Berlin, Germany Year - 1999
Ground Floor Diagram
Examples of Controlled Use of Natural Light
The visitor enters the Baroque Kollegienhaus and then descends by stairway through the dramatic Entry Void, into the underground, thus preserving the contradictory autonomy of both the old and new structures on the surface. The descent leads to three underground axial routes, each of which tells a different story. This precedent study serves to identify successful elements of Libeskind’s architecture pertaining to the generation of sombre and holistic atmospheres.
Interior Perspectives
Topological transformation of the Star of David in the plan of Libeskind’s Berlin Museum with the Jewish Museum Department
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The building zigzags with its titanium-zinc façade and features underground axes, angled walls, and bare concrete “voids” without heat or air-conditioning. With his “Between the Lines” design, Daniel Libeskind did not want simply to design a museum building, but to recount German-Jewish history.
Shalekhet (Fallen Leaves) installation by Menashe Kadishman. More than 10,000 faces with open mouths, cut from heavy round iron plates, cover the floor of the ground floor void.
