The Neue Nationalgalerie, commissioned in 1962, designed by Mies van der Rohe (it was based on a Museum for a Small City published in Architectural Forum in May 1943), constructed in the mid-1960s, and opened in 1968, is in the process of a four-year restoration project, overseen by David Chipperfield. Looking over the fence this afternoon, it looks like a pretty radical reconstruction:-
how fascinating. it was wildly unsuitable as a gallery for contemporary/modern art although a wonderful piece of sculptural architecture but my understanding (have not confirmed) is that it was originally a building designed as headquarters for a Havana cigar factory, but mayhap that was a myth. Mies as you know was an economic migrant to the US as his architecture was out of favour with the Nazis. Your readers are enjoying your peregrinations!
It was very close to the design of a headquarters for Bacardí in Havana, abandoned because of unrest in Cuba. Charles