Museum Island Master Plan, 2001-2015

Berlin, Germany

Berlin’s Museum Island is a unique ensemble of cultural heritage buildings spanning one hundred years of museum architecture in the heart of the city. In 1999, the Museum Island Master Plan was devised, with the objective of developing the area into a contemporary museum quarter, while preserving its historic ensemble of architecture and art.

To visualize and communicate this long-term, sustainable process to the general public, ART+COM designed the first, extensive Master Plan communications in 2001-2003. The communications package included a website, a richly-detailed 3D model and a permanent installation on Museum Island. Visitors to the Pergamum Museum were able to access the installation until construction work began on the central part of the building.

In 2012, the website was relaunched. The newly conceived website presents completely reworked 3D model as well as new images, scenic flights and info graphics, and has been made more accessible for people with disabilities. Editors can now add, update and publish content through a content management system that simplifies and quickens the website’s maintenance. The website was updated again in early 2015 to show the current progress of works.

The new-media based communication presents the museum ensemble as it will be in its expected final state in the year 2025/26, including architectural drafts and all phases of construction. Visitors to the website can see what the buildings and open spaces of the Museum Island look like now, after renovation, or what they will look like in future.

Photographs of the state of the buildings and historical pictures can be superimposed on virtual models, enabling visitors to draw direct comparisons between the past, present and future. Visitors are given detailed information about the redevelopment and restructuring processes, the architecture, and the permanent exhibitions.

Visitors are not able to navigate freely inside the virtual model, but can explore Museum Island by selecting pre-rendered film sequences. This design measure ensures that visitors are guided to the key places rather than getting lost in a complex virtual world.