The new facade is conceived against the background of the existing building, in response and contrast to it. The openness and transparency of the new façade stands against the opacity and solidity of the old. As one represents the severity of the authoritarian past in which it was built, the other reflects the openness of a democratic society and the changed role of its military. In the new elevation of the Museum both are visible at the same time and one through the other.

This correlation corresponds to the juxtaposition of new and old in the building’s interior: The rigid column grid of the old Arsenal is contrasted with a new column-free space. The interplay of both together forms the character of the new Military History Museum.

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