A total of 42 firms have been selected in the most recent round of a design competition for the Museum of the 20th Century. The museum will be located in the heart of the Berlin Cultural Forum. New York practices SO-IL, Snøhetta and REX are on the list, along with British firms Zaha Hadid Architects and David Chipperfield Architects.

Back in November 2014, Germany’s parliament put aside 200 million euros for the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and a new, much-needed building to show 20th century art at the Cultural Forum. In September 2015, a competition was launched for a design strategy that would include the site layout, architecture, and landscaping of the museum.

The new building is set to display “internationally significant art collections” including the National Gallery’s Marx and Pietzsch collections, parts of the Marzona collection, and works from the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings).

Now whittled down to a pool of 42, of which 13 were invited agencies, the selected firms will submit more detailed proposals mid-September of this year. A jury is due to meet the following month to decide where to go from there.

Culture Minister Monika Grütters explained: “The great interest [in] the project shows that it is an attractive challenge for any renowned agency to build in this neighborhood. We expect exciting and bold designs [that] dare the restructuring of the Cultural Forum, without challenging the existing ensemble,” which includes the nearby Mies van der Rohe-designed Neue Nationalgalerie.

President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation Hermann Parzinger said: “It must be possible to combine outstanding architectural and urban design with the requirements of a museum in the 21st century. I want a building that sets a new mark at this location, but it brings the necessary openness.”

The finalists include the following offices:

3XN Architects, Copenhagen, Denmark with Henrik Jorgenson Landskab, Copenhagen, Denmark

Aires Mateus e Associados, Lisbon, Portugal with PROAP Lda, Lisbon

Beatriz Elena Alés + Zaera, Castelló, Spain

Arga16, Berlin, Germany with Anne Wex Berlin, Germany

Barkow Leibinger GmbH, Berlin, Germany with Professor Gabriele Kiefer, Berlin, Germany

BAROZZI / VEIGA GmbH, Barcelona, Spain with antón & Ghiggi landschaftsarchitektur GmbH, Zurich, Switzerland

Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart, Germany

Bruno Fioretti Marquez Architekten, Berlin, Germany with Capatti staubach Landscape Architects, Berlin, Germany

David Chipperfield Architects, Berlin, Germany with Wirtz International NV, Schoten

CHOE Hackh / CUTE ARCHITECTS, Frankfurt am Main, Germany with Park Design, Kejoo Park, Seoul, South Korea

Christ & Gantenbein Architects, Basel, Switzerland with Fontana Landschaftsarchitektur GmbH, Basel

Cukrowicz nachbaur ARCHITEKTEN ZT GMBH, Bregenz, Austria with Studio Volcano, Landschaftsarchitektur GmbH, Zurich

Pedro Domingos arquitectos unip. Ida + Pedro Matos Gameiro arquitecto Ida Lisbon, Portugal with Baldios arquitectos paisagistas, Ida Lisbon, Portugal

Dost architecture Schaffhausen, Switzerland with Boesch landscape architecture Schaffhausen, Switzerland

Max Dudler architect, Berlin, Germany with Planorama Landscape Architecture, Berlin

Sou Fujimoto Architects, Tokyo, Japan with Latz + Partner, Kranzberg, Germany

Gmp International GmbH, Berlin, Germany

Grüntuch Ernst planning GmbH, Berlin, Germany with Sinai Society of Landscape Architects mbH, Berlin, Germany

Zaha Hadid Limited (Zaha Hadid Architects), London, United Kingdom with GREAT.MAX. Ltd., Edinburgh, United Kingdom

HASCHER JEHLE architecture, design and consulting Hascher Jehle GmbH, Berlin, Germany with Weidinger Landschaftsarchitekten, Berlin, Germany

Heinle, Wischer und Partner, Freie Architekten Berlin, Germany with Prof. Heinz W. Hallmann Landscape Architect Aachen, Germany

Herzog & De Meuron, Basel, Switzerland with Vogt Landscape architects, Zurich / Berlin

Florian Hoogen Architect BDA Mönchengladbach, Germany with hermanns landscape architecture / environmental planning Schwalmtal, Germany

Lacaton & VASSAL ARCHITECTS, Paris, France with CYRILLE MARLIN, Pau, France

Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter A / S, Copenhagen, Denmark with SCHØNHERR A / S, Copenhagen

Mangado Y ASOCIADOS SL, Pamplona, Spain with TOWNSHEND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS LIMITED, London, United Kingdom

Josep Lluis Mateo – MAP Arquitectos, Barcelona, Spain with D’ici là paysages & territoires, Paris, France

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA); Rotterdam, Netherlands with Inside Outside, Amsterdam

Dominique Perrault Architecture, Paris, France with Agence Louis Benech, Paris, France

REX Architecture PC, New York, USA with Marti-Baron + Miething, Paris, France

Sauerbruch Hutton Architects, Berlin, Germany with Gustafson Porter, London

Schulz and Schulz Architekten GmbH, Leipzig, Petra and Paul Kahlfeldt Architekten, Berlin with POLA Landscape Architects, Berlin, Germany

Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA, Tokyo, Japan with Bureau Bas Smets, Brussels, Belgium

Shenzhen Huahui Design Co., Ltd. Nanshan (Shenzhen), China with Beijing Chuangyi Best Landscape Design Co. Ltd. Beijing, China

Snøhetta architects, Oslo, Norway

SO – IL Ltd, New York, USA with Stoss Landscape Urbanism, Boston, USA

Staab Architekten GmbH, Berlin, Germany with Levin Monsigny, Berlin

TOPOTEK 1, Berlin, Germany and Pordenone, Italy with TOPOTEK 1 Berlin, Germany

Emilio Tuñón Arquitectos, Madrid, Spain, Tunon & Ruckstuhl GmbH Architects SIA, Rüschlikon, Switzerland with Benavides Laperche, Madrid, Spain

UNStudio, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wenzel + Wenzel Freie Architekten, Berlin, Germany with Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl GmbH, Ueberlingen, Germany

ARGE Weyell Zipse architect / architect horns Basel, Switzerland with James Melsom landscape architect BSLA, Basel, Switzerland

Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop Co., Ltd., Yokohama, Japan, Holzer Kobler Architects Berlin GmbH, Berlin, Germany, Holzer Kobler Architects GmbH, Zurich,

Switzerland with vetschpartner Landschaftsarchitekten AG, Zurich, Switzerland









