This week in Berlin, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's final masterpiece, the 1968 Neue Nationalgalerie, received a dose of contemporary British architect David Chipperfield, who, in preparation for a total restoration of the modern art museum, installed Sticks and Stones, what's basically a bunch of tree trunks in Mies' very glassy "main hall." It's a testament to the pioneering modernist's "less is more" mantra, a 27,000-square-foot glass-enclosed space punctuated with 144 tree trunks, each measuring 26 feet tall.
Chipperfield explains that the "columns" are perfectly aligned with the ceiling's symmetrical grid, thereby revealing new spaces and vistas in "the most beautiful room in Berlin." The exhibition opened today and will run till end of December, after which the trunks will be taken away and a three-year complete renovation will truly begin. Stay tuned.
· David Chipperfield's "Sticks and Stones" Toys with Van Der Rohe's Bones in Berlin [ArchDaily]
· All Mies van der Rohe posts [Curbed National]
· All David Chipperfield posts [Curbed National]
· All Installations posts [Curbed National]
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