Berlin: The Latest Architecture and News

+ 2

+ 17

+ 20

+ 21

+ 29

+ 38

Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) have been awarded first prize in the competition to modernize Hans Scharoun's Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Berlin State Library). Restructuring the library, their proposal for the golden “ship of books” was made to meet the demands of 21st century institutions while celebrating the existing building. The new project aims to showcase the history of Scharoun building and its development.

+ 1

+ 25

On the occasion of the 100 Years of (Greater) Berlin anniversary, Berlin 2020 gGmbH, an organization of the Architekten- und Ingenieur-Verein zu Berlin e.V. (AIV), is launching an open-call initiative for an international urban design ideas competition. Berlin-Brandenburg 2070 aims to spur a broad social debate on the future of the Berlin-Brandenburg region. The competition asks architects, urban planners and landscape architects to respond to the interdisciplinary challenges facing the region in the future. The competition is focused on urban development issues common to both the city of Berlin and the state of Brandenburg. So that the design proposals fully take into account the challenges associated with sustainable metropolitan growth, the design ideas competition seeks to promote cooperation between the various experts and their fields. The international jury comprises the following members: Brigitte Bundesen Svarre, B.V. Prof. Ir. J.M.J. Jo Coenen Beheer, Prof. Werner Durth, Prof. Hans Kollhoff, Prof. Arno Lederer, Prof. Cornelia Müller, Reiner Nagel, Prof. Dr. med. Oliver Schwedes, Prof. Miroslav Sik. The patron of the project is the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller. The deadline to register for the competition is 27 September 2019.

+ 9

Berlin as we know it – with its centres, residential quarters, and suburbs – marks its 100th anniversary in 2020. A reason to celebrate, but also a spur to think about the future development of the region. After years of stagnation, dynamism is returning to the Berlin-Brandenburg region: population growth, new flows of commuters and goods, new quarters and housing developments, a new rail map, a radically new airport arrangement, and a growing public transport system. Berlin is a metropolis, its integrated hinterland extending far beyond its administrative boundaries. What we need now is a broad public debate ranging from sustainable planning of growth across the region as a whole to the specific role of individual neighbourhoods within the growing metropolis. Both politicians and representatives of business and civil society have repeatedly called for such a debate, and with good reason.

The Berlin Philharmonic by Hans Scharoun is one of the most prominent mid-20th century structures in the German city. The expressionist-style building with its bright-colored facade is the first of its kind by the German architect, as well as his most famous project to date. Scharoun’s design interprets rhythm and music as architecture, both conceptually and physically.

Architectural photographer Bahaa Ghoussainy unfolds Scharoun’s unique architecture by highlighting the concert hall’s dramatic angular geometry, vibrant yellow-hued facade, and play of lines and forms.

+ 14

+ 17

Videos

Marking the centenary of the Bauhaus’s founding, the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung’s exhibition at the Berlinische Galerie is presenting famous, familiar and forgotten Bauhaus originals and recounting the history behind the objects: Who is the woman sitting on the tubular-steel chair? Does the Haus am Horn have a secret twin? Why have the tea infusers which were created as prototypes for industrial production always remained one-of-a-kind pieces? The exhibition sheds light on how unique work and series, remake and original are inseparably linked in the history of the Bauhaus. Around 1,000 Bauhaus originals from the Bauhaus-Archiv’s collection will be on display, as well as exceptional loans from international collections and contemporary artistic positions.

David Chipperfield's James-Simon-Galerie has opened on Museum Island in Berlin. The project serves as a new entrance between the Kupfergraben canal and the Neues Museum. The design was made to welcome large numbers of visitors while housing all the additional facilities needed by the museum. Featuring an iconic colonnade above a stone plinth, the project was made to express a classical piano nobile.

+ 4

Public space is under pressure – commercialized for economic interests, abused as a playground for event culture, and maneuvered into insignificance through private acts of self-staging. Is its original function as a forum for public life coming to an end? At the same time, there are ever more standards, regulations, and requirements designed to guarantee safety and functionality. Does this reduce the creative possibilities for new architecture to react to the specifics of the location? If so, how are buildings being affected by these processes?

+ 55

+ 11