The design of the Bastian Gallery has been shaped by the idea of re-examining prevailing contemporary notions of what constitutes appropriate space for the viewing of art. The elegantly spare, rectilinear volume is located among the mature trees of a park in the Dahlem district of Berlin, a rhythmic series of full-height openings, edged in galvanised steel, punctuating its sandstone facades. The elongated proportions of the composition are subtly enriched by the vertical graining of the oak used for doors and for ventilation elements.
John Pawson