Review

The
New
Berlin

International designs for public buildings and embassies since 1990

Berlin was reinstated as the German capital when the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic reunited. The federal government, the parliament and almost all diplomatic missions moved to the country’s new political hub.

Following a number of competitions for urban and architectural design, the districts of Mitte and Tiergarten became home to a new government district and some embassies of notable design quality.

Models, drawings and photographs from our collection, complemented by loans, illustrate these competition entries – some implemented and others not – as options for the expression of power. They also stand, however, as works in their own right, embodying conceptual creativity and exploiting construction techniques. The projects on display range from the German Foreign Office, Reichstag and official residences of the German Chancellor and President to embassies for countries such as India, Mexico, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Selected Artists:
Stephan Braunfels, Georg Bumiller, Santiago Calatrava, Sir Norman Foster, Candida Höfer, OMA/Rem Koohlhaas, KSV Krüger Schuberth Vandreike, Leon Wohlhage Wernik, Gonzalez de Leon and Francisco Serrano, nsh architekten, Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank, Arto Sipinen, Francis Soler