Altes Museum ,1830-Present
THE KING’S GIFT TO THE GERMANS
The Altes Museum in Berlin was constructed by Karl Friedrich schinkel in 1830, it is an important example of neoclassical architecture. Neoclassical architecture starting in the mid 18th century , it was a return to classical architecture after the excessive styles of Baroque and Rococo.“Schinkel was also a State official, and had been appointed in 1810 to the .Oberbaudeputation (Prussian Board of Works), which reviewed all building projects financed by the State. In this capacity, Schinkel was responsible for architectural aesthetics, and he had the right to change the designs of subordinate architects throughout the State”. Friedrich was a high ranking official and was involved in architecture before making the Altes museum which is a landmark. The building is not a common design for a museum, buildings like this was normally designed for royalty or noble families. In the 19th century the relationship between art and observers evolved so did the idea of whom should be allowed to see art. King william the 3rd of Prussia commissioned the museum as a grand gesture for the public to show the idea of opening up art to everyone. The king was interested in encouraging cultural education for all citizens. The architect closely analyzed his surroundings of the site and carefully planned his building in relationship to its surrounding infrastructure. “the site required a very monumental building. Therefore I preferred one giant order rather than two individual expressions for the two main stories….The building surrounded on all sides by the Ionic entablature or the Ionic columnar hall, with Ionic pilasters at the four corners, forms a simple yet grand main structure into which the two floors are inserted in a subordinate manner”, (Karl Friedrich Schinkel). Because of the building being a grand gesture to the public from the king the building itself had to be grand. Each piece of the surroundings represent different parts of Germany, Divinity , power, military, arts and science. The 18 columns that make up part of the facade along with the grand entrance gives the museum a resemblance to the pantheon in Rome. The building follows the Greek style and looks like many important buildings of ancient rome. The museum has a dome towards the middle which contributes to its ressemblances to the Pantheon. The columns to the front and the dome inside of the museum is similar to that of ancient temples in Greece This museum was the first museum in Berlin and the nucleus of the island it is built on. The Museum feels grand as it is surrounded by green space and has a path that leads to the entrance rather than being close to the street. The statues that stand on either side of the stairs contribute to the monumental feeling of the museum. In ancient Rome the entrance to the Acropolis which held the temples to the gods had statues on either side. The statues acted as a threshold that marked the entrance to an important place. Moving from the normal world to a more important one. In ancient Greece and Ancient Rome this type of architecture was used for monumental buildings. These type of buildings cost a great deal and was mostly dedicated to gods, the style of architecture allows for the museum to be seen as an important building just as the Pantheon did in ancient Rome. The ancient civilization held the gods as the most important and devoted monumental buildings to them.The architect took ideas from Greece and the architecture they used on their most important buildings to influence the museum. The museum was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1999 along with a few others on museum island in Germany.
sources:
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/neoclassical-architecture.htm
http://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/altes-museum/about-us/profile.html
Karl Friedrich Schinkel: A Universal Man. p1, 34.
"Altes Museum / Karl Friedrich Schinkel," in ArchEyes, November 30, 2016, http://archeyes.com/altes-museum-karl-friedrich-schinkel/.
Comments
Post a Comment