First glimpse: Olson Kundig's winning Noah's Ark concept for the Jewish Museum Berlin

A tale as old as time, Noah's Ark will be brought to life once again in the upcoming Children's Museum on the Jewish Museum Berlin campus. The Museum launched a two-stage invite-only international competition this past January wherein participants added their own spin in incorporating the biblical story in their proposals. Late last month, Seattle-based Olson Kundig Architects was revealed as the winner. Berlin-based Staab Architekten won second place, while Michael Wallraff ZT GmbH of Vienna received third.

Read on for more.

Authored by Olson Kundig owner and principal Alan Maskin, their firm's proposal ultimately won the jury's favor with its playful depiction of the essential themes of the Children's Museum, including “diversity, migration, creation, second chances, and new beginnings”, the jury stated. Visitors both young and old will get to experience the museum as if they were Noah, exploring the space through interactive and imaginative installations.

“The design by Olson Kundig has the potential to unpack the biblical story in all its relevance, as well as building connections with the present day—rescuing people and animals, the relationship between nature and civilization, and the chance to make a new beginning," stated Peter Schäfer, Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin. “Interactive installations, appeals to the imagination, and scientific elements exploit the flood narrative’s thematic diversity.”

It's been a fairly solid year in competitions for Alan Maskin, who also scored first place in Blank Space's 2016 Fairy Tales competition earlier this year with his team's just-as-beautifully-drawn narrative.

Upon learning that Olson Kundig was chosen to design the Children's Museum for the Jewish Museum Berlin, Maskin and his team were thrilled, to say the least. “The Noah’s Ark story, and the hundreds of flood narratives that precede the Old Testament story were a source of inspiration to our team,” Maskin said in a statement. “Our design approach was to create a modern retelling of the ancient story―an experience that provides a sense of hope and possibility to the people who will visit it.”

Once built inside the existing Eric F. Ross Building, the Children's Museum will feature exhibitions that tailor to the interests of kids ages 5-12 years old. If all goes smoothly, the new museum is expected to be built by mid-2018 and then open to the public in 2019.

Project credits:

Architecture and scenography: Olson Kundig Architecture and Exhibit Design, Seattle, WA, United States 
Authors: Alan Maskin, Kirsten Murray
Contributors: Stephen Yamada-Heidner, Marlene Chen, Jerome Tryon, Juan Ferreira Specialist planners: Structural engineering: Karen Eisenloffel, EiSat GmbH, Berlin // Climate engineering: Thomas Auer, Transsolar KlimaEngineering, Stuttgart // Fire protection: Peter Stanek, Architektur- und Sachverständigenbüro, Berlin // Local architect: Philip Engelbrecht, Architekturbüro Engelbrecht, Berlin // Structural engineering: Jay Taylor, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Seattle // Cost consultant: Andrew Cluness, C&N Consultants, Inc., Seattle // Exhibition fabrication: Kevin Belcher, Pacific Studio, Seattle

Don't forget to check out more project images in the gallery below.