BUnder the stars-it becomes a reality in Berlin. When the Museumsinsel subway station opens this Friday, there will be another attraction in the center of Berlin. Then commuters, tourists, and train fans may get lost in the dark blue of the ceiling and 6662 spot lights, and then disappear into the hustle and bustle of the capital again.
Max Dudler said: “Designing a subway station that makes you like to stay there before the train arrives is a special challenge.” The architect designed the starry sky under Berlin. Two-line tunnels and platforms supported by two rows of flat-topped columns form a platform space. “Metro stations are always at night. The starry sky is infinite. You don’t know where it ends. I want to create this infinite feeling.”
His inspiration came from Karl-Friedrich Schinkel. For Dudler, the station is a tribute to the Prussian architect. “In the 19th century, the entire urban space was shaped by Schinkel. From the beginning, my idea was to make it immortal underground.” The old museum and the theater on the nearby Gendarmenmarkt are one of Schinkel’s most famous works. Dudler designed the space transition between the track and the platform based on the classic arcade model. The train that had just exited the tunnel entered a stone archway after only five meters. The walls of the entire station are covered with lightweight granite from the Fichtel Mountains based on classicist architecture.
For the vaulted ceiling, Dudler based the stage design designed by Schinkel in 1816 for the performance of Mozart’s “Magic Flute”: the star hall in the night harem.Color is very important to him: “The night sky on the mountain is blue-black-not black, because there is always the light of stars. It’s great!” Therefore, the arcade of the subway station was chosen from the Swiss paint manufacturer kt. COLOR’s special deep blue: ultramarine-French painter Yves Klein It is said to be called the “infinite visible sign”.
The wall behind the rails is also a beautiful scenery line of the 180-meter-long station.Where are there advertisements, passengers can take pictures here Stefan Muller Look at Philip Arnold. Large-format images show detailed shots, such as pillars or fragments of surrounding buildings. “These panels are cut from above,” Dudler said. “What we found interesting is that the Schinkel fragment of Museum Island also appeared under the stars.”
Dudler comes from the mountains, namely Switzerland, and studied architecture at Städelschule in Frankfurt and Berlin University of the Arts. In 1992, he established his own architectural office. For the award-winning architect, Museum Island is not the first railway station he designed. In Leipzig, he created the underground S-Bahn station Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz. This is why he was invited by the city of Berlin to participate in the competition for the Museum Island contract he won in 1998. It took another 14 years to start construction. Since the Museumsinsel subway station is partially located under the Spree Canal, the ground must first be frozen to prevent water from entering before actual construction starts in April 2012. The capping ceremony was finally held on February 10 this year. With the opening of the station, the gap on the U5 line between Alexanderplatz and Brandenburg Gate has almost been closed. The neighboring stations “Rotes Rathaus” and “Unter den Linden” were put into operation in December.
The new railway station has four entrances between Kupfergraben and the German History Museum, Kronprinzenpalais and Schlossplatz. “The entrance is very important to me,” Dudler said. “They are the entrance to the underworld.” Because of the historical environment, he carefully designed them.
Before the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic, the five museums on Museum Island attracted nearly 2.5 million visitors. So Dudler’s position has to bear a lot. This is another reason why architects attach great importance to material and artistic sustainability. “Rooms must be considered in the long-term. The purpose of subway stations is not a technological miracle, but a spatial experience. Today, many architects are thinking too technically-using incredibly high-quality materials. But they are neither sustainable nor eternal As soon as I left the room, I had forgotten it.”
However, Dudler cannot be completely without technology. In order for its 6662 stars to truly shine, the built-in optical fiber must be illuminated by a projector. These are connected behind the ceiling cladding. The Museumsinsel metro station will be the 175th metro station in Berlin. At 20 meters underground, it will be the deepest metro station in the capital. However, for Dudler, it is more: a cultural station. “Metro stations are public places such as squares or streets. The city is being built underground. Tourists should enjoy strolling in public spaces.”
