The beauty of form is the inner reason of nature that has rendered itself visible. Only the flower is for the fine arts. (Karl Friedrich Schinkel: "Gedanken und Bemerkungen über Kunst” ca. 1840, translated from German by G.Windeck)

In 1995 the German weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT organized an international ideas competition in protest against the so-called "reconstruction" of the famous Bauakademie (Building Academy) by Karl Friedrich Schinkel from 1836. The goal of the competition was to propose a contemporary architecture for the historic site in the center of Berlin, in the spirit of Schinkel's continuous striving for the radical advancement of architectural form.

The proposed design is a contribution to the discussion about a new kind of architectural language that is derived from natural forms. It is an attempt to search for the role of architecture within the process of finding the "form" of the present. The cubic volume of Schinkel's Bauakademie is replaced by a figure that unfolds itself free of axial coordinates. The building contains an auditorium, exhibition hall, studio spaces as well as a club/lounge. The airy and transparent spaces are designed to support creativity and intellectual work. They are experienced as spaces of passage, continuously transforming in volume and lucidity.

Type: Unbuilt
Place: Berlin
Year: 1995
Authorship: Georg Windeck
Model photos: Dirk Schaper

DIE ZEIT
derarchitektbda
TU-Berlin