Berlin
2013—ongoing
Pergamonmuseum
Museumsinsel Berlin
Since 2013, Alexander Schippel has been documenting the extensive renovation of Berlin’s Pergamonmuseum. His work goes beyond recording the construction process: it observes the transformation of a museum in which past and future remain simultaneously visible over many years.
New spatial structures, technical installations and future exhibition spaces emerge alongside monumental ancient architecture. Schippel is particularly interested in temporary states that exist only briefly: scaffolding in front of historic exhibits, tools and materials from conservation work beside ancient surfaces, or spaces suspended between dismantling, reconstruction and their future use.
Over time, the project has developed into both a photographic archive of transformation and an independent body of work exploring architecture, time and change.
Alexander Schippel describes his practice as a photographic archaeology of the present. Rather than treating photographs as isolated images, he considers them part of a long term narrative. Images relate to one another, motifs recur and change, and sometimes a photograph finds its counterpart only years later.
His photographic process often begins with a close observation of the site and conversations with those involved in construction and conservation. The photographs emerge from this understanding of the building and its ongoing transformation.
Working with a technical camera and very high resolution allows precise control of perspective, lines, focus and composition. This precision is never an end in itself. It creates images that retain their presence at large scale, allowing the viewer to move through the architecture visually while discovering details that may only become apparent at a second glance.
In 2026, five large-format photographs from Schippel’s long term documentation of the renovation were presented at the James-Simon-Galerie on Berlin’s Museumsinsel. The works offered views of the Pergamon Altar, the Hellenistic Hall and other areas inaccessible to the public during the renovation.
Pergamonmuseum – Reopening 2027
Pop-up exhibition, James-Simon-Galerie,
Berlin, 2026
