Project
Restoration and reconstruction of floor mosaics as part of the reconstruction of the Neues Museum Berlin
Location
Das Neue Museum, Berlin
Year
2009
Technique
Stoneware mosaic: handmade coloured gypsum-lime-sand cubes
Client
Bundesamt für Bauordnung und Raumwesen
Architects
Built between 1843 and 1855, "Das Neue Museum" is the major work of the architect and Schinkel pupil Friedrich August Stüler. As part of the World Heritage Site ensemble of Berlin's Museum Island, and also as an individual building, it is considered one of the most important examples of 19th-century museum architecture.
After extensive destruction during the Second World War and initial security measures, reconstruction began in 2003 according to plans by renowned architect David Chipperfield. The van Treeck workshops were entrusted with the restoration and reconstruction of the stoneware mosaic surfaces.
A good half of the surface was conserved, while the other half was reconstructed from hand-cast, coloured plaster-lime-sand cubes according to the historical model. This is probably the largest federal monument construction site in the capital and has kept van Treeck's restorers busy for more than two years.
Photos (c) Timo Ohler
