Anyone who recalls the landmark "Tacheles" from the post-reunification years understands its pivotal role in the art and design scene of that era—defined by expansive studios with open walls and breathtaking heights. Today, it houses Fotografiska Berlin, a contemporary museum dedicated to photography, art, and culture.

The exhibition space spans three floors, showcasing rotating installations. To grant the curatorial team complete flexibility in targeted illumination, the Berlin-based lighting designers at jack be nimble engineered an ingenious system combining primary and secondary tracks. The museum shop features multiple integrated components, while dark power rails seamlessly blend into the black ceiling.

The circulation spaces of this storied building stand apart from its intimate gathering places. In the stairwells and hallways, original artwork and graffiti remnants from the vibrant 1990s and early 2000s are highlighted by an industrial lighting vocabulary, while newly installed fixtures and furnishings employ a softer light to emphasize the building's warmer, more residential qualities. The overall design approach—old versus new—honours both the building's historic fabric with a contemporary, pared-back sensibility and the significant alternative art scene of the post-reunification era. Diffuse tube lights serve as visual anchors, guiding visitors through all circulation areas where original graffiti remains, including a custom-designed feature at the stairwell eye. Supplementary spotlights add precision and brilliance to the diffuse lighting, creating a flexible modular system that responds thoughtfully to both the building's heritage and its lighting needs. The Veronika restaurant and bar occupy the fourth and fifth floors, connected by a soaring two-storey void along the facade. Minimalist ceiling-mounted spotlights deliver focused brilliance to the tables and bar in a refined, unobtrusive manner. Particularly striking is the decorative lighting integrated into the furniture itself, which casts a warm, intimate glow—especially as evening settles in. On the sixth floor, the Clara rooftop bar features a power rail recessed directly into the new pyramid-shaped ceiling, allowing spotlights to illuminate the entire space without creating unwanted reflections on the sloped surfaces.

www.jackbenimble.de

Photography:
Koy & Winkel
www.koy-winkel.com

(Published in CUBE Berlin 04|25)