Project // Cultural Center
Scope // Architectural and Urban Study
Size // 20.000 qm
Client // n.n.
Consultant // n.n.
Location // Berlin
Status // n.n.
Year // 1998



It seems as if the future of the Schlossplatz can only be found in its past. Therefore, the future will be the rebuilding of the 1946 destroyed Palace and consequently the destruction of the “Palace of the Republic” built by the GDR. Contrary to this approach, we treated the GDR “Palace of the Republic” as a part of our history and kept it. In the same way we keep the foundations of the Palace free and accessible. Instead of manipulating the past we start from the present and give the future a space in the centre of Berlin.

The special quality of this project is the ability to establish a continuous urban square by implementing a foreign object. As radical as this fluid monolith differs from the context, as much does it reconnect the square to the context. The volume follows the mass of the surrounding buildings and creates a harmony with a well-proportioned urban square.

This incorporation of historic and given fragments is typical for the urban structure of Berlin. We create a new urban space by using the ruins of the demolished palace and by reactivating the Palace of the Republic. A new architectural object, floating and barely touching the ground is inserted to reconnect the urban ensemble to the city and its context.