James Turrell
Chapel Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof | Permanent installation
Berlin (DE), 2015

A generous private donation from a citizen of Berlin made it possible to combine the necessary renovation of the chapel in the listed Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof with a light installation by American artist James Turrell. The project was realized in close cooperation with Häusler Contemporary.

Completed in 1928, the funeral chapel is part of the listed garden ensemble. Towards the end of the Second World War, the Dorotheenstädtische cemetery was badly damaged, the facade and roof of the chapel had to be renewed, later the building experienced numerous transformations, partly for statically relevant, the interior was radically redesigned in the 1960s.


With his artistic concept for the redesign of the chapel, which was realized by Nedelykov Moreira Architects, James Turrell moves very close to biblical notions of light. Comparable to Gothic church architecture, the rooms created by Turrell are not illuminated in the traditional sense – they are rather filled with light and color. In Turrell’s light spaces, the architecture appears dematerialized, relieved of its severity, and the visitor immediately experiences the presence of pure light. The origin of the light always remains hidden. The newly designed chapel was awarded the Prize of KiBA Foundation (Stiftung zur Bewahrung kirchlicher Baudenkmäler).