Architecture
German Design Award: Museum Selma's architecture draft honoured
The architectural design for the Museum Selma has been honoured with a prestigious award: the German Design Award 2026. The award is presented by the German Design Council as an international award for outstanding design with impact.
Bright, airy and sustainable: this is how the Museum Selma is to be, according to the design concept. In spring 2025, DOMiD, the organisation behind our museum, awarded the contract for the general planning of the Museum Selma to the architecture and exhibition design firm ATELIER BRÜCKNER from Stuttgart. Among other things, their design vision impressed with its careful handling of the existing industrial hall in which the museum will be built.
This approach was also praised by the jury that awards the German Design Award: it was ‘the respectful treatment of the existing building’ that characterised the Museum Selma ‘in an impressive way’, as stated. 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 modular wooden fixtures create a sustainable cultural building that emphasises the special responsibility we as a museum have for future generations.
DOMiD's museum construction project manager, Yordanos Asghedom, congratulates the planners: "The award underlines the excellent cooperation with ATELIER BRÜCKNER. The design only gently intervenes in the existing structure, allowing the industrial character of our hall to stay present. The modular wooden fixtures create a sustainable cultural building that emphasises the special responsibility we as a museum have 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.