Berlin is a city of ghosts. Berlin is literally haunted by the past: one ghost that keeps appearing is the spectre of classical modernism in art and architecture. The most recent controversy concerns how to design an addition to the iconic New National Gallery by Mies van der Rohe on a public place, the Cultural Forum, that has never worked as an urban space. Not only is the Mies building considered one of the masterpieces of classical modernism but the building’s pure, pristine form makes it extremely difficult to add to. Further complicating the project, there are three other masterpieces by Hans Scharoun surrounding the site. In the studio, students had to figure out how to address the four masterpieces in their urban design strategy and how to use new program, form and landscape to activate the dead space of the Cultural Forum. At the same time, they had to devise an effective formal addition to the existing building that respected the monument yet added to and enhanced it while containing good exhibition spaces for the collection. The proposals contribute to ongoing debates about how to respond to architectural heritage, particularly monuments – should they be preserved untouched? Modified respectfully? Or can we violate and transform them?
