humboldt forum: franco stella rebuilds berlin palace with new baroque façades

in 2008, italian architect franco stella was chosen to rebuild the ‘berlin palace’ — once the seat of prussian royalty — creating a new museum building called the ‘humboldt forum’. now, over a decade later, the largest cultural development in europe is celebrating its completion. located on a key historic site at the heart of berlin, and occupying a floor area of 40,000 square metres, the building has been conceived as a space that brings together the arts and sciences in a contemporary dialogue. details of the public opening will be announced in early 2021.

image © SHF – christoph musiol

the original berlin palace evolved out of the renaissance period and was given its famous baroque character in the 18th century by the architect andreas schlüter and his successor johann friedrich eosander. it was further altered during that century, and in the 1840s friedrich august stüler added a dome to its west end. during world war II, the building was severely damaged and the east german government demolished it completely in 1950 making way for the ‘palace of the republic’.

image © SHF – christoph musiol

after germany’s reunification, the palace of the republic sat empty and dilapidated. then, in 2003, the bundestag voted to demolish it and rebuild the berlin palace as a home for the humboldt forum. the brief for the 2007 competition asked for a particular focus on some of the lost palace’s key baroque features.

image © SHF – christoph musiol

now complete, the new humboldt forum is home to four partners: the stiftung preußischer kulturbesitz (prussian cultural heritage foundation) responsible for the ethnologisches museum (ethnological museum) and the museum für asiatische kunst (asian art museum) of the staatliche museen zu berlin (berlin state museums); kulturprojekte berlin (cultural projects berlin); the stadtmuseum berlin (city museum berlin); and humboldt-universität zu berlin (humboldt university), working with the building’s owner and operator, the stiftung humboldt forum (humboldt forum foundation).

image © SHF – alexander schippel

franco stella’s design seeks to reconcile a number of renaissance and baroque principles that relate to the history of the palace, fusing them with a modern vision. throughout, there are references to the site’s architectural past, including areas where what was there before has been brought back to life. however, the new palace also functions as a state-of-the-art home for one of europe’s largest and most important cultural centers.

image © SHF – christoph musiol

‘I conceived the humboldt forum as a palace, with its six portals representing city gates, and its three inner courtyards servicing as city squares,’ stella explains. ‘in other words, I envisioned it as a city in the form of a palace. in architectural terms, the concepts of palace and piazza allow for a well-balanced combination of the old and the new — each with its own, unique vocabulary of forms and shapes.’

image © SHF – christoph musiol

constructed in sandstone, the humboldt forum’s palace is rectangular, and is entered via six grand portals. the new palace covers the footprint of its baroque predecessor, except that the new east end, overlooking the river spree, has been pulled back from the water to allow for new public spaces. three of the façades have been faithfully restored as the baroque originals, while the more reserved east wing is a completely new design element with large windows. the reconstructed 19th-century dome, 70 metres tall, sits above the west entrance.

image © SHF – alexander schippel

connecting the structures holding the humboldt forum’s main activities are the three major inner courtyards. these spaces not only provide routes through the forum, but also serve as places for people to gather for events and performances. the three courtyards follow a renaissance model, whereby public spaces such as churches and squares, often colonnaded and with a grand entrance, would be deployed as venues for performance or ceremonial occasions. they are devised partly in the modern style, and also with strong reference to the original baroque palace.

image © SHF – alexander schippel

the interior building elements house the museums, exhibition, performance, and event spaces, the humboldt lab, and other cultural and academic programs across five storeys. the first sections to open their doors to the public will be the ground floor and the first floor, followed by the first part of the ethnological museum and the asian art museum on the second and third floors of the west wing, and the roof terrace, in late summer 2021.

image © SHF – alexander schippel

the second part of the ethnological museum and the asian art museum will open on the second and third floors in the east wing in late 2021/early 2022. finally, the entire building will be accessible to visitors by late 2021/early 2022, with a wide-ranging cultural program spread over 40,000 square metres of floor space. see designboom’s previous coverage of the project here.

image © SHF – alexander schippel

image © SHF – alexander schippel

image © SHF – christoph musiol