GRAFT Architectural Highlights

The Badeschiff is an old barge or cargo container that has been converted into a public swimming pool in Berlin, Germany. Beached on the shoreline in the East harbor section of the River Spree, the Badeschiff allows citizens to swim in a safe environment in their river, at least in a figurative sense. Opened in the summer of 2004 as an art project organized by the City Art Project Society of Berlin. It was created by local artist, Susanne Lorenz, to enliven city life along the long-neglected Spree. The pool was converted from the hull of a vessel measuring eight by thirty-two metres.

Neue Nationalgalerie at the Kulturforum is a museum for classical modern art in Berlin, with main focus on early the 20th century. It is part of the German National Gallery. The museum building and its sculpture garden were designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and opened in 1968.

The new DG Bank headquarters in Berlin forms part of the wider and ongoing reconstruction of Pariser Platz – but its urban sobriety hides a rich inner life, animated by the interplay of light, form and materials. The introduction of Frank Gehry into the mix might in theory be calculated to induce an element of raciness and unpredictability, but he too has been obliged to conform to the dress code. Being Gehry however, he has still managed to spring a few surprises.

The current Reichstag dome is an iconic glass dome constructed on top of the rebuilt Reichstag building in Berlin. Designed by architect Norman Foster and built to symbolize the reunification of Germany. All that also designed by Foster to be environmentally friendly. Energy efficient features involving the use of the daylight shining through the mirrored cone were applied, effectively decreasing the carbon emissions of the building. The futuristic design symbolizes Berlin’s attempt to move away from a past of Nazism and Communism and instead towards a future with a heavier emphasis on a united, democratic Germany.

Built by the architect Hans Scharoun in the years 1960-1963. It is a singular building, asymmetrical and tent like, with the main concert hall in the shape of a pentagon. The seating offers excellent positions from which to view the stage through the irregularly increasing height of the benches. The stage is at the center of the hall, providing an extraordinary atmosphere for both the artists and the viewers. The acoustics are excellent; from every seat the sound is nearly equally great. It is said that you can pick out individual voices or instruments even from a seat at the far end.

Designed by architect Erich Mendelsohn. It was built for astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich to support experiments and observations to validate Albert Einstein’s relativity theory. This was one of Mendelsohn’s first major projects, completed when a young Richard Neutra was on his staff, and his best-known building. The exterior was originally conceived in concrete, but due to construction difficulties, much of the building was actually realized in brick, covered with stucco.

Thank God for the beautiful architecture! Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank started building the new crematory in 1996. The new architecture is ceremonial and simple. When entering the crematory, the first thing one experiences is one of the architectural highlights, the Kondolenzhalle: there are more then 20 columns that loom into the sky and on which light floats downwards.

Fully glazed partitions, facades and ceilings determine the appearance of the new AdK, which now, very impressively, fills one of the last gap sites on the Pariser Platz in Berlin. The employment of, quite exclusively, acoustically hard construction material became a certain challenge for the acousticians in charge. Therefore two innovative sound absorber designs from the Fraunhofer IBP workshop, Stuttgart, were employed in two comparably inconspicuous, yet very effective applications along with some conventional room and electro-acoustic measures.

Transparent printed micro-perforated foils and veneered compound panel absorbers have helped to avoid that transparent architecture and demanding acoustics ran into conflicts as in so many similar projects. The ambitious architects of Behnisch & Partners, Stuttgart, the project managers and users, instead, enjoy an all-around aesthetically outstanding building complex after it was opened to the public in May 2005.