Kunst-am-Bau-Wettbewerb

In the organizer's words:

Competition "Humboldt Forum - contemporary façade on the north gable facing the Lustgarten"

When it was founded, the Humboldt Forum Foundation at the Berlin Palace was given the task of reappraising the history and architecture of the site and making it visible.

With exhibitions, events, artistic interventions and works of art on the building, the SHF and those involved in the Humboldt Forum are increasingly continuing to reflect on this often controversial location. This will also be visible in the public space. An eighth work of art-in-building will contextualize the façade on the north gable facing the Lustgarten. The competition task was an artistic examination of the architecture and program of the building.

Over 120 artists from Germany and abroad took part. At the beginning of June, the jury of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning, headed by artist Antje Schiffers, selected three winners and awarded five commendations.

All designs will be on public display at the Humboldt Forum from June 25 to July 7, 2025. Free admission.

The first prize, which will be realized in the coming months, went to the entry "Südpfeil" by Jürgen Mayer H. It envisages a three-metre-long, bronze arrow that appears to penetrate the building shell of the Humboldt Forum from the north.

The jury explained in its statement: "This intervention combines historical, cultural and artistic aspects and addresses colonial history and its effects. The way the work is designed and integrated into the façade invites viewers to reflect on the past, present and future of the site. It is a work of art that provokes in its ambivalence, questions and at the same time encourages reflection. (...) The jury particularly emphasized the minimalist simplicity and subtlety of the work in contrast to the massive and significant form of the Humboldt Forum. (...) The work blends into the overall picture without dominating the original design, yet still manages to convey a strong message. With "Südpfeil", the artist succeeds in making a precise artistic statement that is not instructive and invites the viewer to react intellectually and emotionally without any great theoretical superstructure. (...) What is special about this work, in addition to its strength of meaning, ambivalence, ambiguity and openness, is that it can be thought about on all levels, both in its inviting gesture and its aggressive dangerousness."

The Berlin artist and architect J. Mayer H. works with his projects "at the interface of architecture, communication and new technologies. From urban planning concepts and buildings to installations and objects with new materials, the relationship between the human body, technology and nature forms the background for a new staging of space."

Further information on the BBR website:

BBR - Humboldt Forum - contemporary façade on the north gable

Opening of the exhibition

June 23, 2025, 17:00

Staircase hall 1st floor

Welcoming address

Hartmut Dorgerloh, General Director and Chairman of the Board of the Humboldt Forum Foundation in the Berlin Palace

The following will speak:

Petra Wesseler, President of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning

Hans-Dieter Hegner, Director of Technology, Humboldt Forum Foundation in the Berlin Palace

Antje Schiffers, artist, chair of the jury

Further information:

- free of charge

- Staircase hall, 2nd floor

- Duration: June 25 - July 7, 2025

- Opening hours: Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 10:30 - 18:30; Tue: closed