Photo: Hufton & Crow

ANOHA—The Children’s World of the Jewish Museum Berlin

Berlin, Germany

ANOHA—The Children’s World of the Jewish Museum Berlin is inspired by both ancient and contemporary flood stories. Through exhibits utilizing imagination and play, the museum provides their youngest guests with a sense of hope and possibility in the face of global issues like climate change, the cause of rising tides. Within ANOHA, children are encouraged to forge connections with one another, working together to create an empathetic future.

Design Principal
Alan Maskin

A Modern Ark

Constructed as a modern structure within an historic one, ANOHA—the Children’s World of the Jewish Museum Berlin is located within an existing former flower market hall directly opposite the existing Jewish Museum Berlin. At the heart of ANOHA is a 6,300-square-foot circular wooden ark, standing almost 23 feet tall with a 92-foot base diameter. The curvilinear ark complements the curved ribs of the Brutalist light scoops overhead, while the shift in materiality from concrete to wood offers a softening counterpoint to the existing space.

Designing for Inclusion & Acceptance

In 2016, the Jewish Museum Berlin hosted an international design competition to select an architect and exhibit designer for a new dedicated children’s museum. At that time, Germany had distinguished itself among European nations by accepting nearly 1 million refugees. This national agenda of welcoming and acceptance—as well as the project site with a multi-cultural, diverse neighborhood—resonated strongly with the design team, who envisioned the new museum as a place where children of all religious and ethnic backgrounds, ages and physical abilities would feel included and accepted.

Found Objects Transformed Into Animals

Inspired by the pioneering vision of Noah’s Ark at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, which underscores the importance of diversity, community, and second chances, ANOHA is populated by more than 150 sculptural animals, designed by Olson Kundig and fabricated from recycled objects by a team of 18 German artists who worked with local children. This approach encourages ANOHA’s visitors to consider the importance of recycling and adaptive re‑use, while supporting ANOHA’s core philosophy of creativity and imagination. The tactile nature of these sculptural objects and the sense of playful discovery as children recognize the familiar materials used to make them highlight the importance of respecting and treasuring global resources.

Collaboration & Stewardship

These interactive exhibits placed along an intuitive visitor pathway teach children how to solve problems independently and as a group, while explorative spaces modeled after unique habitats allow children to experience the diverse perspectives of the various animals. Within ANOHA’s world of imaginative roleplay, children may pretend to feed and groom animal sculptures, then clean up after them and compost their waste to feed the soil, introducing a sense of stewardship in the natural world as outlined by the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam, or “world repair.”

I loved inheriting and working with an existing framework, and that became part of a larger idea about adaptive reuse, sustainability, recycling and many other aspects of design. The building was unheated, it was in poor shape, it was literally an open-air flower market in its earlier rendition, and I loved transforming that kind of space. I inherited a found object that was a real jewel. Alan Maskin

Design Principal

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Embedded Sustainable Design

Sustainable strategies rarely seen in museum buildings are embedded in the architectural design as an integral part of the user experience. The “building within a building” approach retains the embodied carbon of the existing market hall and significantly lowers energy loads. Ceiling fans and operable windows in the ark allow for air exchange with the surrounding hall. Radiant floor heating and the thermal buffer of the surrounding market hall keep the interior warm during colder months, while the project’s passive ventilation strategies eliminated the need for a cooling system.

Overhead, clerestory windows in the market hall roof incorporate operable louvers to facilitate natural ventilation, controlled by sensors that monitor temperature and air quality. The hall’s curved concrete roof forms and north-facing skylights draw daylight into the interior, lighting the courtyard without the use of additional electric lights.

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