Out of Storage. Focusing on acquisitions by the Friends of the DAM

Since its foundation 40 years ago, the Friends of Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) have been helping to expand the museum’s collection – by acting as an intermediary, by acquisitions and donations of plans, drawings, photographs, models, and books.

On the occasion of its 40th anniversary, the exhibition is for the first time showing over 140 exhibits from the 20th and 21st centuries that have become part of the DAM collection thanks to the efforts of the Friends. These include works by internationally renowned architects such as Archigram, Future Systems, Bruce Goff, Hans Poelzig, Hans Scharoun, and Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky. At the same time, the exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the randomness and incompleteness of collecting, as well as its breadth, and to consider the role of archives today. How do archives shape our knowledge of architecture? What significance do they have as places of remembrance? How can they be brought to life and made more accessible?

Under the title 'Out of Storage', hidden treasures are revealed, and the spatial and logistical challenges of growing collec- tions are addressed, with contributions from international experts such as the MoMA in New York and the Korean Museum of Urbanism and Architecture.