Conversion work is due to start to turn a Wilhelmian-era Berlin building into one of the world’s first museums dedicated to street art. Described by the architects as “more of a hub”, which will include living and work spaces for artists on its upper floors, the Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art is set to open in the middle of next year.
The facade of the former residential house in the capital’s Schöneberg district has long been used as a giant canvas by graffiti artists including Shepard Fairey, D*Face, Maya Hayuk and The London Police. Now there are plans to install removable panels on the exterior of the five-storey building so any murals commissioned in the future can be loaned for other exhibitions.
The museum will also feature an outdoor atrium for installations, and a library of books by the street art photographer Martha Cooper.
Yasha Young, the director and curator of the cultural foundation Urban Nation, which supports street art in Berlin, will head up the museum. For the past three years Urban Nation and its international team of curators has been building a collection that will form the heart of the new museum. Funding comes courtesy of a €900,000 grant from the Lotto Berlin foundation.
At a press conference on 19 May, Tim Renner, Germany’s culture minister, described the project as “insane” before adding: “That's why it fits Berlin so well.”