Architectural draft honoured: DOMiD's Migration Museum wins prestigious award

The Museum Selma, DOMiD's migration museum, has won a prestigious award: its architectural draft has been honoured with the German Design Award 2026. The award is presented by the German Design Council as an international prize for outstanding design with impact – as is the case with the Museum Selma.

In spring 2025, DOMiD, as the museum's operator, awarded the contract for the museum's general planning to ATELIER BRÜCKNER, the Stuttgart-based architecture and exhibition design firm, which impressed with a design concept that is bright, airy and sustainable.

Among other things, the careful handling of the existing industrial hall in which the museum will be built was the deciding factor. The jury that awards the German Design Award also praised this approach, stating that it was ‘the respectful treatment of the existing building’ that characterised the Museum Selma ‘in an impressive way’.

The consistent use of sustainable materials was also praised. ‘Particularly noteworthy is the authentic combination of architecture, history and participation, which sets a powerful standard for excellent conceptual architecture.’

The project manager for museum construction at DOMiD, Yordanos Asghedom, congratulated the planners: ‘The award underscores the excellent collaboration with ATELIER BRÜCKNER. The design intervenes only cautiously in the existing structure, allowing the industrial character of our hall to shine through. The modular wooden fixtures create a sustainable cultural building that emphasises the special responsibility we have as a museum for future generations.’

The Museum Selma is being built in the internationally influenced district of Cologne-Kalk in a former industrial hall, which itself bears witness to the history of migration in Germany. Its historical character will be preserved in the future and its history will be continued – in the Museum Selma.