Re: altes (museum) trash

At 02:27 PM 1/12/00 -0600, Rick wrote:

>this sounds like the compound "behind" the Altes, to the Northwest.
>which is not directly connected to the Altes (although Schinkel's master
>plan for Museum Island shows a second story walkway over the road
>separating the two complexes). (Since the longitudinal axis of Museum
>Island runs roughly Northwest to Southeast, we may say that Northwest is
>"behind".) There are two other museums connected to and in that
>compound, or courtyard....

Really great description snipped!

> ............. The arcade around the
>Nationalgalerie and connected to the Neues Museum is really well
>proportioned and designed, but it has been badly treated by the Marxist
>Regime. Where it has been repaired, it has also been filled in many of
>its bays for storage sheds. That is, the normally open bays of an arcade
>are now too often plastered over, solidly, from column to column. Ah,
>the pragmatics of Marxism -- reminds me of the public attitude in
>Dallas.

Did you get a look at my photo? Is that in this arcade? The p[icture was
taken in 1995.

>To my mind, the Altes is not so much a museum as it is the excuse to
>have a beautiful, long, gallery of a porch stretching across the rear
>side of the Lustgarten (the platz upon which both the Altes and the Dome
>front). And if that lovely porch has any excuse for being, itss
>functionality is not to front for a museum so much as it serves as the
>field of force through which one must pass -- after climbing a fine set
>of public steps -- to achieve entry to one of the World's most elegant
>stair halls.

The Lustgarten/Altes plaza has always been pretty important socially, even
from the time of its making under the Hohenzollerns. I wrote a paper
comparing the Lustgarten to Pittsburgh's Market Square for a class. I can
send or post anyone a copy if they're interested. It's nothing too
earth-shattering but it was interesting to see how similar the two squares
are, and the history of misuse of the Lustgarten was a lot of fun to read!

>Thus, for me, the rooms of the Altes behind the stair hall are nother
>more than a nicely domed cetnral space which serves as an excuse for
>ascending in a great stair hall.

Unfortunately, I can't recall too much of the Altes other than the stair,
porch, and entry hall.

Thanks for the great fill-in, Rick!
mark
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