News, Migration museum, Museum construction

Industrial hall meets cultural building: this is what Museum Selma should look like one day

Where steel sheets were once cast and rolled, a pioneering cultural building will be constructed in the coming years on behalf of DOMiD: the Museum Selma. Another important milestone on the way to this building has now been reached.

Museum Selma continues to take shape. The general planning team for Museum Selma has been found: Atelier Brückner, an internationally renowned partner for architecture and exhibition design, has been found.

A Europe-wide award procedure initiated by DOMiD in August 2024 has thus come to a successful end.

The design idea: A first insight into the Museum Selma

The entrance area of the Selma Museum. The old railway tracks run along the floor and the supporting structure and crane runways of the old industrial hall can be seen above. In the centre is a large wooden staircase that serves as access to the upper rooms or as a place to linger. Sitting on the stairs, visitors can look into the area for the temporary exhibitions. Ticket counter is on the right. Visualization: Atelier Brückner

The uncovered neighbouring hall can be seen, through which visitors can enter the museum. The old steel frame remains standing. The entrance area of the museum can be accessed along old rails on the floor.Visualization: Atelier Brückner

Entrance to the ‘chronology’ of the permanent exhibition at the Museum Selma. Arranged in a circle, visitors can immerse themselves in German history in the post-war period, complemented by voices and perspectives that have rarely been heard before. Visualization: Atelier Brückner

Entrance to the permanent exhibition at Museum Selma. Moments of German history are shown on large picture panels. Visualization: Atelier Brückner

The entrance area of the Selma Museum. The old railway tracks run along the floor and the supporting structure and crane runways of the old industrial hall can be seen above. In the centre is a large wooden staircase that serves as access to the upper rooms or as a place to linger. Sitting on the stairs, visitors can look into the area for the temporary exhibitions. Ticket counter is on the right. Visualization: Atelier Brückner

The uncovered neighbouring hall can be seen, through which visitors can enter the museum. The old steel frame remains standing. The entrance area of the museum can be accessed along old rails on the floor.Visualization: Atelier Brückner

Entrance to the ‘chronology’ of the permanent exhibition at the Museum Selma. Arranged in a circle, visitors can immerse themselves in German history in the post-war period, complemented by voices and perspectives that have rarely been heard before. Visualization: Atelier Brückner

Entrance to the permanent exhibition at Museum Selma. Moments of German history are shown on large picture panels. Visualization: Atelier Brückner

‘What impressed us about the concept submitted by Atelier Brückner was the open and flexible room layout as well as the sustainable construction method,’ explains Yordanos Asghedom, project manager for the museum building at DOMiD.

In addition to sustainability, participation, digitality and openness to the neighbourhood were also key factors in the selection of the winning design.

A new type of museum

The Museum Selma is being created as a ‘new type of museum’. One of the reasons for this is that it emerged from a migrant self-organisation when DOMiD was founded in 1990.

The different possibilities that the museum will offer also contribute to this: Here, forms of use such as exhibitions, cultural events, research and collections will be united under one roof.

A cinema hall, a digital laboratory, a freely usable ‘open space’ and areas for children make it clear that this is not a ‘classic’ museum. Modular event rooms allow for uses ranging from small seminars to conferences, company celebrations and cultural events.

In addition to the exhibition, the collection of over 150,000 artefacts will also move to modern new storage rooms in Cologne-Kalk. In this way, the museum combines all uses in one place.

A more comprehensive insight into the designs can be found on the Museum Selma website.

Museum Selma: This is how the museum should look like