Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie is finally back open following a six-year, $160 million refurbishment by David Chipperfield Architects. 

The original Mies van der Rohe building from 1968 now features a restored glass facade, expanded exhibition space, sculpture garden, and improved LED lighting. 

Chipperfield incorporated an earlier unrealized design for a Bacardi Rum corporation building in Cuba. The building itself was taken apart in 35,000 individual segments which each required their own 16-digit bar codes.

“We had to turn over every stone,” DCA’s Martin Reichert told the Art Newspaper last week before the museum reopening. “But we had to treat it with the same care shown by restorers handling a world-famous artwork. After 50 years of use with no refurbishment, there were a great many deficits—this was not just a case of fixing things, it was about making sure it survives the next 30 to 40 years without additional renovation work.” 

The newly refurbished building will be inaugurated with an Alexander Calder exhibition. Asbestos and other hazardous materials had to be removed before a new, highly-efficient cooling system could be installed that combines with the museum’s improved accessibility for a more modernized structure complete with a new audio system that takes into consideration the needs of visitors with hearing impairments.

The original building was the last realized project van der Rohe completed before his death in 1969 and his only in post-war Germany. Frieze has an in-depth interview with David Chipperfield here.

For a selection of drawings and facade details, peruse the image gallery below.