August 2002 - Nr. 8
New German Architecture
on Display at the Martin-Gropius-Bau
TWIG - Ever since the Wall collapsed in 1989, Berlin’s rapidly evolving skyline has served as a graphic symbol of German renewal. And while the Federal Republic redefines its role after the end of the Cold War and with the rise of globalization, new buildings are reshaping the urban landscape across the country. What do such structures as the DaimlerChrysler Building on Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz and the Dresden synagogue tell us about what Germany is today and where it is going? Visitors are invited to explore that question at "New German Architecture," an exhibition on display through September 16 at the Martin Gropius Building in Berlin, with a world tour to follow.
"German architecture measures up very well internationally, it just isn’t getting enough recognition," says Berlin architect Konrad Wohlhage, whose firm is represented in the exhibition. To help change that, the Hamburg Bureau of Architects, which organized the show under the auspices of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, is offering a sweeping survey of German architectural design over the past two and a half decades.
Included among the 25 buildings selected for model display are such dramatic designs as the Berliner Bogen office building in Hamburg (BRT Architekten, Bothe Richter Teherani), the Herz Jesu Kirche in Munich (Allmann Sattler Wappner Architekten) and the Neanderthal Museum of Human Evolution in Mettmann (Mettmann Zamp Kelp and Julius Krauss, Arno Brandlhuber), as well as more restrained, somber works such as the Saxon State Library in Dresden (Ortner u. Ortner Baukunst). The buildings were chosen from among 800 designed by architects based in Germany, with 100 semi-finalists proposed by an international committee and final selection made by a national jury. The exhibition also highlights ten firms that have shaped the course of German architecture over the past 25 years. Detailed information about the exhibit, including descriptions and images of the buildings represented, can be found at www.neue-deutsche-architektur.de.
