The Price to Build Herzog & de Meuron’s New Modern Art ‘Barn’ Museum in Berlin Has More Than Doubled From Its Initial Estimate of €200 Million

The opening date for Berlin’s planned Museum der Moderne is
still a long way off, but the project has already become a lot more
expensive.

During a budgetary meeting with members of German parliament,
the country’s culture minister, Monika Grütters, more than doubled
the estimated bill for the “first-class museum” to more than
€450M.

Initially, the German government budgeted €200 million for the
new museum of 20th century art, but it will now be on the hook
for €364.2 million. There will be further costs as
well: €52.2 million will be tacked on for projected increases
in construction costs and another €33.8 million will go towards
managing various building risks, according to the daily
newspaper Der
Tagesspiegel. The total amount is now €450.2 million euros
and builders are set to break ground in the coming weeks.

The museum, which is being designed by Swiss architects Herzog &
de Meuron and is due to be completed in 2026, has been polarizing
from the start. Critics have called the design a nice-looking
“barn” that recalls Europe’s discount grocery market chains.

Others have commended the designers for creating a striking,
low-profile museum that does not overshadow the surrounding
architecture, which includes Mies van der Rohe’s slender Neue
Nationalgalerie, the muscular and modern gold-topped Philharmonie,
and the historic stone church of St. Matthew.

At a press conference in Berlin Tuesday morning, architect
Jacques Herzog noted the complexities of the site and argued
that, through an integrated design, “the museum becomes part
of life in the square.”

Officials seem tired of the debate. “We are now embarking
on a path of clarity and we are looking forward to a spectacular
house with which we can catch up internationally,” said Hermann
Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage
Foundation, in a statement issued Tuesday.

For years, many of the works in the 20th-century collections of
Germany’s state museums have languished in storage because there
has been no space to present them.

“Our collection has at least tripled since the 1960s due to the
merging of the collections from East and West, due to numerous
acquisitions and donations, but it [has been] torn apart, spread
across many locations and, for reasons of space, can only be seen
in excerpts,” says Joachim Jäger, director of the Neue
Nationalgalerie, whose all-glass exterior is under long-term
maintenance. “With the new building, it will be possible to
experience the art of the 20th century from Max Beckmann to Bruce
Nauman, from Kurt Schwitters to Jason Rhoades as a continuum.”

Gerhard Richter has also announced that he will be handing over
works to the museum once it is completed, making it best place to
see works by the famous German painter. He broke that news shortly
after saying that he would not be establishing a
museum in his hometown of Cologne.

The post The Price to Build Herzog & de Meuron’s New Modern
Art ‘Barn’ Museum in Berlin Has More Than Doubled From Its Initial
Estimate of €200 Million appeared first on artnet
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