HISTORY GALLERY ON THE ROOF
Open-Air History: 1.2 kilometers full of perspectives from the past and the future
The Tempelhof airport is a place that reflects its history to its visitors in a unique way. The airport's past, but also its present and future - as well as that of the city of Berlin - can be experienced in a special way: in an exhibition on the 1.2-kilometer-long airport roof.
The concept of the history gallery, which at first glance seems reserved, becomes an equally radical and careful staging of the walkable roof surfaces of Tempelhof Airport upon closer inspection.
Staab Architekten, who won the architectural competition followed by a negotiated procedure, use minimal and targeted interventions to transform the existing arcade at the edge of the roof into a quiet history mile dedicated to listening and seeing. In the center of the building, an exhibition platform is arranged in reference to the historical planning. Several stair towers will be meticulously renovated and, with their impressive, largely unfinished condition, turned into exhibition areas and at the same time utilized in their original function of providing access to the roof.
A dark-colored matte floor covering leads visitors through stairwells and exhibition rooms to the gallery corridor on the airport roof. Once on the roof, the gallery walkway forms a continuous historical narrative thread, connecting the building and the field. Signs embedded in the floor guide the way and point to a system of information media that allows visitors to experience the history of the Tempelhof airport in an orchestrated way. Sound-absorbing, dark receding materials on the floor and ceiling provide sound islands that, in conjunction with analog and digital information systems, open up the "Tempelhof" site.
The History Gallery allows the visitor a suggestive perception of the panorama over the airfield and into the city. Through the so-called event fields, elements of augmented reality are integrated into the exhibition experience.
The historical connection between the building and the field is visually complemented by position lights on the arcade.
The "History Gallery on the Roof of the Berlin-Tempelhof Airport Building" is funded as part of the joint task "Improvement of the Regional Economic Structure" (GRW) with federal funds and funds from the State of Berlin, represented by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Operations, and co-financed by the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing.
