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 analysing 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. In future, an eighth work of art-in-building will contextualise the façade on the north gable facing the Lustgarten. The competition task was an artistic examination of the architecture and programme 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 prizewinners and awarded five commendations.

All designs will be on public display at the Humboldt Forum from 25 June to 7 July 2025. Admission is free.

The first prize, which will be realised 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 thematises 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 emphasised 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. (...) The special thing about this work, in addition to its strength of meaning, ambivalence, ambiguity and openness, is that it can be further developed 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 spatial staging."

Further information on the BBR website:

BBR - Humboldt Forum - contemporary façade on the north gable

Opening of the exhibition

23 June 2025, 17:00

Staircase hall 1st floor

Welcome

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

The following spoke:

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

Hans-Dieter Hegner, Director of Technology, Humboldt Forum Foundation at 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