James Simon Gallery

[1] The gallery is named in honour of the art patron Henri James Simon (1851–1932) who brought worldwide fame to the Berlin State Museums with his lavish donations, including important artwork and artifacts.

The design of the reception building consisted of a stone basement, framed by a modern continuation of Friedrich August Stüler's colonnades at the Alte Nationalgalerie.

[7] Similar in function to the Louvre Pyramid, the James Simon Gallery is designed to receive the visitors for the island, offer them orientation, and direct them to the exhibits featured on the main circuit.

A broad staircase leads up in three flights to an elevated plateau with a line of 70 white concrete columns that stand almost nine metres high but less than 30 centimetres thick.

[2] The building provides a 300-seat auditorium, with concrete walls cast in pleated acoustic folds; a media centre; a 600-square metre space for temporary exhibitions; a bookstore; shops; cafés and restaurants for all of Museum Island.