connection between the Düsseldorf design and Schinkel's Altes Museum

superimposition of the Museum for Northrhine-Westphalia and Altes Museum elevations

The superimposition of the elevation and plans of both the Museum for Northrhine-Westphalia and the Altes Museum immediately demonstrates a similarity in scale between the two buildings. The sameness of size, however, is not the only comparable feature. The overlay of the two buildings also reveals differences in Stirling's design that are either subtle or bold when compared with Schinkel's museum. For example, the relationship of the Düsseldorf entrance pavilion and the Altes Museum's attic story, which houses the upper portion of the museum's interior rotunda dome, strongly suggests a possible connection. Furthermore, the superimposition of the two plans clearly shows where Stirling departed most radically from the Berlin museum prototype.

superimposition of the Museum for Northrhine-Westphalia and Altes Museum plans