Honorable Mention: American Architecture Awards 2022
ANOHA - Children’s World The Jewish Museum Berlin | Berlin, Germany | 2020

Architects: Olson Kundig
Lead Architect: Alan Maskin
Contractor: Stiftung Judisches Museum Berlin
Client: Stiftung Judisches Museum Berlin
Photographers: Yves Sucksdorff, Hufton & Crow, Alan Maskin, kubix Berlin

RISING TIDES ANOHA—The Jewish Museum Berlin is inspired by both ancient and contemporary flood stories. Through exhibits utilizing imagination and play, the museum provides their guests with a sense of hope and possibility in the face of global issues like climate change, the cause of rising tides. Within ANOHA, visitors are encouraged to forge connections with one another, working together to create an empathetic future.

BUILDING WITHIN A BUILDING Sustainable strategies rarely seen in museum buildings are embedded in ANOHA’s architectural design as an integral part of the user experience. Constructed as a modern structure within an historic one, ANOHA is located within an existing former flower market hall directly opposite the existing Jewish Museum Berlin. At the heart of ANOHA is a 6,300-square-foot circular wooden ark, standing almost 23 feet tall with a 92-foot base diameter. The curvilinear ark complements the curved ribs of the Brutalist light scoops overhead, while the shift in materiality from concrete to wood offers a softening counterpoint to the existing space. This “building within a building” design retains the thermal buffer zone of the existing market hall, significantly lowering energy loads.

EMBEDDED SUSTAINABLE DESIGN Sustainable strategies rarely seen in museum buildings are embedded in the architectural design as an integral part of the user experience. ANOHA’s “building within a building” approach retains the embodied carbon of the existing market hall, likewise, eliminating extensive mechanical systems and significantly lowering energy loads. Ceiling fans and operable windows in the ark allow for air exchange with the surrounding hall. Overhead, clerestory windows in the market hall roof incorporate operable louvers to facilitate natural ventilation, controlled by sensors that monitor temperature and air quality. The hall’s curved concrete roof forms also serve to draw daylight into the interior. The ark’s windows support this passive daylighting approach, while visually connecting ANOHA with the existing structure of the hall.

DESIGNING FOR INCLUSION & ACCEPTANCE In 2016, the Jewish Museum Berlin hosted an international design competition to select an architect and exhibit designer for a new dedicated children’s museum. At that time, Germany had distinguished itself among European nations by accepting nearly 1 million refugees. This national agenda of welcoming and acceptance – as well as the project site within a multi-cultural, diverse neighborhood – resonated strongly with the design team, who envisioned the new museum as a place where visitors of all religious and ethnic backgrounds, ages and physical abilities would feel included and accepted.

ENGAGING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE Educators at the Jewish Museum Berlin were intrigued by the link between more than 500 historical flood myths – found in cultures around the world – and current global crises like rising tides relating to climate change. Using these familiar stories to push beyond the Judeo-Christian tradition, ANOHA creates an imaginative venue that invites all guests to learn about and engage with these important contemporary issues. DESIGN IMPACT Lessons learned throughout ANOHA continue to impact the design team’s ongoing project work, including the importance of reusing materials, drawing on historical narratives to influence and inspire contemporary audiences, and creative collaboration with non-architectural partners. ANOHA’s lead designer is currently working on several other museums around the world; each one repurposes existing architecture, continuing to advance the agenda of conservation and reuse.