German Architecture Museum moves to Danziger Platz

After the first construction phase in 2010, the second part of a large-scale active upgrade and fire protection renovation of the German Architecture Museum, built in 1984 to a design by architect Oswald Matthias Ungers at 43 Schaumainkai, will begin in October this year.

The interior of a Wilhelminian-style villa was destroyed for this purpose and remodeled with a discontinued building, called a “house in a house”. The entire one-story extension is framed by corridors with pitched glass roofs, and the rear gallery area received a light roof. Twelve small courtyards form the final end of the rear part on the ground floor. The building group is a cultural monument.

Open staircases with immediately adjacent viewing rooms as well as a high percentage of glass surfaces cause extreme temperature fluctuations and thus difficult regulation of the indoor climate. It is therefore important to significantly improve thermal insulation in winter and summer – both from a mesographical and from a work point of view. In particular, the glass surfaces on the ground floor and attic are replaced with special heat-insulating glass, and all windows are replaced. The outer walls of the ground floor corridors and barrel ceiling of the large exhibition hall will be additionally insulated. The decentralized thermal cooling will be established with new cooling centers. Deficiencies related to fire protection and safety must be addressed; An additional second escape route is created in the form of an escape tunnel.

The former Telekom area is occupied

Damage to the facade, sandstone cladding, floor coverings and tiles, as well as moisture damage, require basic renovation measures that will preserve the building and among other things, sanitation for visitors and staff will be redesigned. The renovation work is expected to take two years.

The DAM will move to the former Telekom district next to the Ostbahnhof, today “Danzig am Platz”, as temporary quarters. There, the museum will move into a loft-like area of ​​about 400 square meters in a high-rise building accessible from Henschelstrasse to the north.

Awarded and funded by the DAM Friends Association, design concepts for the new entry stand will be developed at Henschelstrasse and for a larger highlight, also from Danziger Platz, with students from Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences in a competition for ideas. In January 2022, the traditional annual DAM award will kick off with the best buildings in Germany and on to the temporary two-year period there.