The Frozen Ruin of Neues: May 14th Mini-Task
The Neues Museum in Berlin is a relic trapped in time. Included above are three pictures, one of the building's perimeter, one of the building's interior pre-reconstruction, and one post-reconstruction. At first appearance, the Neues museum is fairly standard; it's a multiple-floor museum housing relics from the age of the ancient Egyptians, the bronze age, the iron age, as well as from the time of the Romans and vikings. However, despite being a memorial to countless historical artifacts, the building itself is a relic as well in a very unique sense; as previously mentioned, it is a "frozen ruin". the Present day Neues museum features a combination of pre-war and post-war architecture. The pillars and walls at the exterior of the building still show the scars of the second world war, bullet holes, scorch marks, and general 'battle-wounds'. The interior of the building is equally as polarized in appearance; the two pictures of the interior stair-well show this. Initially, the interior had a much more colourful, 'medieval-esque' appearance. However, the war and the destruction it caused to the museum changed this. It was reconstructed in a way that showed both the previous designs that survived the war, and gave off a more modern feel. This is why the Neues museum is described as a "frozen ruin"; it is quite simply frozen in time, showing off pre-war design, the scars of the war, and the post-war reconstructive design in a unique aesthetic combination. It is quite literally, a destroyed ruin that still blends in with the modern day.
1 comment:
In the rooms that still had original artwork on the walls, do you think that the artifacts that were in those rooms complimented the artwork? I know they had Roman artifacts in the one room that had Roman architecture.
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