Environmentalists and architecture critics have raised concerns about the carbon footprint of a major new museum for modern art designed by Herzog & de Meuron, which is under construction in Berlin.
Due to its complex air conditioning system, the Museum of the 20th Century will use four times as much energy as a nearby museum that was built in the 1800s, according to calculations by sustainable conservation expert Stefan Simon.
In the face of Germany's mounting energy crisis, this makes the building "an environmental disgrace", said low-carbon architecture expert Philip Oldfield.
The Museum of the 20th Century by Herzog & de Meuron is under construction in Berlin
"Again we see some architects ? at the exact time they should be stepping up to create the most energy-efficient buildings possible ? instead creating gas-guzzling designs that put the climate agenda as the lowest priority," he told Dezeen. The museum, which will be connected to Mies van der Rohe's Neue Nationalgalerie via an underground tunnel, also relies heavily on emissions-intensive concrete in its subterranean construction.
German art expert Tobias Timm has dubbed the building a "monument to the fossil-fuel age" and called on the government to temporarily pause construction of the publicly-funded building so that it can be redesigned.
Museum's budget doubled to ?450 million
Set to open in 2026, the Museum of the 20th Century was designed as an extension to the Neue Nation...