Museum for Architectural Drawing - SPEECH Tchoban & Kuznetsov

A New Museum for Berlin
The private Museum for Architectural Drawing will open its doors for the first time in June, 2013 at Pfefferberg in Prenzlauerberg, Berlin. Sergei Tchoban, the renowned architect based in Berlin and Moscow, has joined with Sergey Kuznetsov of SPEECH Tchoban & Kuznetsov, to create a space for architectural drawings. The new museum will provide a home for the internationally renowned Tchoban Foundation collection as well as for temporary exhibits from leading cultural institutions around the world. Architect and passionate collector Tchoban has finally realised his dream to create the ideal setting for architectural drawings. The Tchoban Foundation Museum for Architectural Drawing opens its programme with ‘Piranesi’s Paestum: Master Drawings Uncovered’. In presenting this singular collection from the Sir John Soane‘s Museum in London, one of the oldest architectural museums in the world, the Museum for Architectural Drawing marks its intention to continue this tradition.

The Location
The Museum for Architectural Drawing at Pfefferberg takes its place alongside the rich array of important cultural institutions in the capital. The museum’s new building is located at the western entrance to Pfefferberg from Christinenstraße, the site of the former brewery between Schönhauser Allee and Teutoburger Platz in Prenzlauer Berg. This area has developed since the 1990s from a non-profit organisation to become a centre for Berlin’s cultural scene. Today numerous studios, workshops, agencies, galleries and event-spaces are gathered within the listed industrial buildings and arches around the renowned architectural forum, Aedes, with its research centre, Aedes Network Campus Berlin.

Architectonic Design
The striking construction is extended from a fire-wall and latches onto a row of typical old Berlin houses. The Museum for Architectural Drawing is a fourstorey solid corpus with a glass floor stacked on top. The profile of the four floors is reminiscent of casually piled up blocks. The building’s silhouette is created by a regression and progression of facade elements, and demonstrates a freedom of form that relates to the conventions of the neighbouring historic Berlin buildings and yet is unorthodox and minimalist in its gesture.

The Museum for Architectural Drawing is an exceptional example of contemporary architecture in its construction, design and choice of materials. The powerful expression of its formal language cannot be overlooked though it still responds sensitively to its surroundings. The coloured concrete and glass facades of the building are rich in contrast and layers. Its closed surface is detailed with strong magnified fragments of architectonic sketches in relief form. The museum has a floor area of approximately 490 square metres, and contains two receptions areas, two exhibition rooms and the museum depository.

The Collector and the Collection
Sergei Tchoban, born in 1962 in Saint Petersburg, developed a passion for architectural drawing during his student years at the Russian Academy of Arts in his home city. Here he discovered his love for the old Masters and began himself to draw. In 2001, the purchase of a drawing by Pietro di Gottardo Gonzaga was the foundation stone for his collection. Since then, the collection has grown to include several hundred sheets from different periods: from architects of the 16th century to the present day, from Cerceau to Frank Gehry. At the end of 2009, the Tchoban Foundation was founded with the aim of keeping the interest in architectural representation through drawing alive and to support young talent in this field. Together with the founder Sergei Tchoban, Dr. h. c. Kristin Feireiss, founder of the Aedes Architectural Forum and Dr. Eva-Maria Barkhofen, director of the Architectural Archive at the Academy of Arts, Berlin, two experts highly esteemed in and beyond their specialised fields, form the curatorship of the foundation.

Address: Christinenstraße 18a, 10119 Berlin
Gross Floor Area (GFA): 498 m²
Completion: 04/2013
Developers: Tchoban Foundation. Museum für Architekturzeichnung

Credits
Architects: Sergei Tchoban and Sergey Kuznetsov of SPEECH Tchoban & Kuznetsov, Moskau
Planning, Project Management: nps tchoban voss GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin
Team: Philipp Bauer, Nadja Fedorova, Katja Fuks, Ulrike Graefenhain, Dirk Kollendt, Ingo Schwarzweller
Engineering: PPW Dipl.-Ing D. Paulisch, Berlin; Facade: MBM Konstruktionen GmbH, Möckmühl; Facade Graphics: Heimann und Schwantes, Berlin; Facade Consultants: Priedemann Fassadenberatung GmbH, Berlin; Concrete: BSS Beton SystemSchalungsbau GmbH, Berlin; Building Services: Planungsbüro Thye, Berlin; Roof and Terrace Insulation: Torsten Süßer GmbH, Berlin; Construction: Lindner AG, Arnstorf; Conservation Consultant: Dr. Eva-Maria Barkhofen, Berlin; Lifts: Tepper Aufzuganlagen GmbH, Berlin; Ironmongery: Wilking Metallbau GmbH, Berlin; Fixtures and fittings: Messing Zawadski, Berlin; Carpentry: Tischlerei Hollenbach, Berlin; Lighting: Kardorff Ingenieure, Berlin; Courtyard Design: atelier 8 landschaftsarchitekten, Berlin