Renovation of the Sprinkler System at the ZKM | Media Museum

 
Dismantling and montage of 4.400 sprinkler
Dismantling and montage of 10 km sprinkler pipeline network, corresponds to 35 t
Dismantling and montage of 4.000 m2 sheet metal
Dismantling and montage of 1.600 m2 construction foil
Dismantling and montage of 1.800 m2 of carton for covering the bridges

From November 2014 through till the end of March, 2015, approximately ten kilometers of old sprinkler pipeline network is to be extracted and a new one installed in atria 8, 9 and 10.  While the daily business of exhibition takes a pause at the ZKM | Media Museum, work behind the scenes continues:  Almost 5000 sprinkler heads and about 4000 sq. m. of metal paneling are to be renewed. About 1600 sq.m. of construction foil is to be installed on the upper floors. In a completely gutted state, the Media Museum is now revealed in its original condition, namely, as industrial architecture of the former munitions factory.
 

For the renovation, videos, music and light installations have migrated from ZKM | Media Museum collection into the ZKM depots. Single museum pieces, such as the Zuse Z22 vacuum-tube computer are heritage-protected and cannot be dismantled: The computer, built in 1957, will be enclosed for the duration of the renovation work.