The Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg – the largest museum of cultural history in the German-speaking world – has appointed David Chipperfield Architects Berlin to refurbish its south and south-west buildings. The two building wings, which border the city wall, date from the mid-twentieth and late nineteenth century respectively, comprising 5,500m² in total. The project aims to preserve the listed building fabric and to upgrade the energy efficiency and technical infrastructure of the buildings, while bringing the interior spaces to contemporary museum standards.

The south-west building, a historicist brick structure, was completed in 1899 and was rebuilt with slight modifications after war damage. The south building and the staircase connecting both wings was built between 1963 and 1967 and designed by architect Sep Ruf, who was strongly associated with the Bauhaus group.

Photography © GNM

The City of Edinburgh Council has granted planning permission for a new 1000-seat performance venue within the UNESCO World Heritage site of Edinburgh’s New Town. The Dunard Centre will be the city’s first purpose-built music and performance venue in over 100 years. Embedded in the dense area of Registry Lanes and also on the grand civic axis with Dundas House, the building creates a series of rich, continuous, high-quality and accessible public spaces that better connect the previously fractured surroundings. The project is a respectful new addition to its historic context that will revive the complex site and provide a new cultural destination of both local and international significance.

Image by Hayes Davidson

Coinciding with the launch of its digital registry of building materials and products this week, David Chipperfield Architects Berlin has joined Madaster Germany as one of their first architecture partners. Following the principles of the circular economy, Madaster allows the documentation, registration and storage of both the properties and values of building materials, making their reuse easier and helping to eliminate waste. By doing so, each building becomes a reservoir of materials. Continue reading

The Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum has been selected as the 2021 Soane Medalist. Delivering her lecture via a livestream from Sir John Soane’s Museum, Tabassum outlined her approach to an architectural practice of resistance, forging a role that is deeply embedded in the service of her own country with its challenging environmental and social conditions, while also maintaining a strong command of the physical qualities of architecture and its substance. Following the lecture, David Chipperfield chaired a panel discussion with Priya Khanchandani (Design Museum) and Adrian Lahoud (Royal College of Arts) to expand on the global relevance of Tabassum’s work as a model for addressing the volatile conditions of environmental degradation and the social inequality experienced in communities around the world, as well as the use of public platforms to advocate for change.

Watch the lecture and panel discussion

Five voices on Marina Tabassum

Soane Medal 2021

David Chipperfield Architects 1984-2021 is a new publication by Arquitectura Viva, edited by Luis Fernandez-Galiano. The bilingual Spanish and English volume contains 65 projects combing the two previous monographs published by Arquitectura Viva as well as some current work, published for the first time. The projects are accompanied by five essays reflecting on the studio’s interest in history, culture, public space, materials and the city.

Two New York residential projects designed by the practice have received awards at the sixth annual Architecture MasterPrize. The Bryant was recognised as the Best of the Best in the High Rise category and 11–19 Jane Street won a Residential Architecture – Multi Unit award. The two buildings, which are located in Midtown Manhattan and the West Village respectively, are both contemporary interpretations of the historic architecture that surrounds them.

Images © Simon Menges and James Ewing / JBSA

The Fundación RIA is a private, non-profit, cultural entity founded by David Chipperfield in 2017. Its main objective is the analysis, debate, development and promotion of ideas to support the development and protection of the local economy, as well as the architectural, urban, natural and cultural values of the Atlantic estuaries of Galicia in north-west Spain. The foundation seeks to reconcile and strengthen the efforts of individuals and public or private institutions related to these areas, and, where appropriate, operate as an instrument for coordination of these institutions. Read more

The latest issue of the El Pais supplement Icon Design features an interview with David Chipperfield. Daniel García López travelled to Corrubedo in Galicia to discuss the role of architects in addressing critical issues of planning, community and environmental sustainability at a local and global level, focusing on the significance of process. Through the work of Fundación RIA and the research conducted with Simon Kretz supported by the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Initiative, the practice hopes to expand the positive role of architecture in the built and natural environment.

This publication is the outcome of an 18-month dialogue between David Chipperfield and Simon Kretz as part of the Rolex Mentor & Protégé programme.

The collaboration led to a theoretical exercise examining the forces that influence the shape of cities, using the Bishopsgate goods yard site in East London as a case study. Exploring this further with teams at ETH Zurich, they highlighted conditions under which an ideal urban development project could flourish.

Publications

This residential project, won in competition, is located at the south-west corner of the Colville Estate, a housing development in Hackney, east London, built in the 1950s. It forms part of Hackney Council’s programme of redevelopment across the borough that calls for around 2,500 new homes to be built over the coming years. Karakusevic Carson Architects was originally commissioned to develop a comprehensive masterplan, which was adopted in 2011. The two residential towers, 16 and 20 storeys respectively, form part of this masterplan and are intended for private sale to co-fund the larger redevelopment of the estate.

The 136-page publication is arranged by season through the work of photographer Risaku Suzuki who visited the cemetery over the course of a year. Suzuki’s images interleaf the texts which include an essay by Japanese author Toshiyuki Horie; a conversation between the photographer Thomas Struth, David Chipperfield and Hideyuki Osawa, Director of the Boenfukyukai Foundation; and reflections by Hideyuki Osawa and David Chipperfield on the ambitions and collaborative process of conceiving, designing and building the project. The book is designed by John Morgan studio and produced by the Boenfukyukai Foundation in collaboration with David Chipperfield Architects.

Inagawa Cemetery is located on a steep site in the Hokusetsu mountain range of Hyogo prefecture, approximately 40 kilometres north of Osaka. The cemetery is laid out across terraces and bisected by a monumental flight of steps leading up to a shrine at the highest point – an axis that orients the whole project.