Gallery building Am Kupfergraben • David Chipperfield Architects

The building ‘Am Kupfergraben 10’ is located on the Kupfergraben canal, overlooking the Lustgarten and the Museum Island. It is a modern building which reacts to its immediate historic context, incorporating the past without replicating it. As an urban infill, the building connects with both of its neighbouring buildings in terms of height. While developing its own sculptural quality, it occupies the footprint of the preceding building, which had been destroyed in the Second World War.

The façades are of brick masonry on reconstituted stone courses with no visible expansion joints, using salvaged bricks pointed with slurry. Large window openings reflect the urban scale of the site and define the composition of the façade, given structure by their untreated wooden panels.

While solid materials that will age well characterise the exterior, the interior is defined by daylight and proportion. The building cores organise the space of the 5.5 metre high rooms. The simple floor plan varies throughout the four storeys depending on the form of the volume and the placement of the window openings. The spaces are side lit from different directions, and daylight is controlled by adjustable panels.

The building was used as a gallery building for twelve years. As a townhouse dedicated to the arts it directly related the art to the cultural heart of the city. In March 2019 the owners donated the building to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. After transforming the rooms into spaces designed for learning, experience and communication, the foundation has been using the building as a ‘Center for Cultural Education’ for the Berlin State Museums.

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