Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Often mentioned as a pioneer in lightweight tensile and membrane construction, yet overshadowed in the discipline of architecture, Frei Otto along with Gunther Behnisch collaborated to design the 1972 Munich Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany.  With the Olympics having already been held in Berlin in 1936, Otto and Behnisch took the second Olympics games in Germany as an opportunity and a second chance to show Germany in a new light.  Their goal was to design a structure that would emulate the games motto: “The Happy Games” as more of a whimsical architectural response that would overshadow the heavy, authoritarian stadium in Berlin.

More of the 1972 Olympic Stadium in Munich after the break. read more »

© Stefan Blume

Architects: Stasek
Location: Viernheim, Germany
Cost: € 300.000
Project year: 2010
Photographs: Stefan Blume

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© Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Hans Scharoun is a well known German architect best known for his design of the Berlin Philharmonic concert hall in Berlin, Germany.  Completed in 1963, Scharoun’s organic and futuristic aesthetic interpretation for the concert was a replacement for the previous Philharmonic that was destroyed in WWII.  Scharoun’s design was fairly straightforward that focused on placing music at the center of his design, both conceptually and physically. From the center, the music would be amplified and filtered throughout the auditorium.

More on the Berlin Philharmonic after the break. read more »

©Samuel Ludwig

“In order to design buildings with a sensuous connection to life, one must think in a way that goes far beyond form and construction.” This quote from Peter Zumthor rings true in his design of Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, where a mystical and thought-proving interior is masked by a very rigid rectangular exterior.

More on Bruder Klaus Field Chapel and Peter Zumthor after the break.

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Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects, © Roland Halbe

The design of the Arp Museum represents the seamless integration of the building’s spectacular site with the museum’s mission to showcase the work of the Dadaist master Hans Arp and his circle. One of the unique features of the region in which the museum is located is the series of medieval castles that line a 35-mile stretch of the river Rhine. The Arp Museum, sited on a wooded escarpment overlooking the Rhine, is intended to respond to and echo the forms of these captivating relics.

Video and drawings of the Arp Museum in Remagen-Rolandseck, Germany following the break.

Architects: Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP
Location: Remagen-Rolandseck, Germany
Principal in Charge: Richard Meier
Design Partner: Bernhard Karpf
Project Architect: Stefan Scheiber
Designer: Bernhard Stocker, Michael Thanner
Collaborators: Clay Collier, James Luhur, Aaron Vaden-Youmans
Associate Architect: Ehrensberger & OertzArchitekten
Principal: Matthias Oertz
Site Administration: Thomas Böhling, Marco Theil, Thilo Bergmann
Structural Engineers: Buro Happold, Draheim Ingenieure
Geotechnical Engineer: Dietrich Beratende Ingenieure Witt, Jehle & Kriechbaum
Mechanical Engineer: Zibell – Willner & Partner Freiländer & Partner
Electrical Engineer: Müller & Bleher
Façade Consultant: Albrecht Memmert & Partner
Lighting Consultant: Müller & Bleher, LichtDesign, Zumtobel Staff
Acoustic Consultant: Trümper – Overath – Heimann – Römer, Ingenieurgesellschaft für Bauphysik
Client: Ministery of Finance Rheinland Pfalz, Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck
Client Representative: Landesbetrieb Bau Koblenz
Photographs: Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects, Roland Halbe ARTUR IMAGES

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Courtesy of Daniel Libeskind

Germany’s Lüneburg university wants to reinvent itself as an elite academic institution and is looking to generate buzz with a huge new building designed by star US architect Daniel Libeskind. Students and local politicians have criticized the ambitious plans, but construction is going ahead, now that funding has finally been secured. More images and description after the break. read more »

The Cognitive Cities Conference (#CoCities) aims to bring the vibrant global conversation about the future of cities to Germany. We believe that collaboration and diversity lead to the best results. By inviting bright minds with different perspectives, it is our ambition to enable not only an in-depth exchange about the current state of affairs, but also to foster new projects and contribute to the ongoing global discussion.

We see CoCities as a platform for exchange and mutual inspiration. We invite urban planners, designers, technology geeks, environmental experts, public officials, urban gardening enthusiasts and cultural influencers to be part of the conversation. We can only make our cities more livable if we work together to improve them.

CoCities is a two-day event: Day 1 is a full-on conference (ticket required), Day 2 is dedicated to exploring the city through workshops, guided tours and exhibitions (free entry).

For more information click here.

© Bertram Bölkow

The architects began the design of Sharp Cut Workshop by referencing the characteristicly steep roofs by the surrounding historical buildings of the provincial town Eibenstock. The result is a sharp-angular construction body with five differently inclined roof surfaces that evolves from the surrounding environment.

More about this project after the break.

Architects: Atelier st
Location: Eibenstock, Germany
Collaboraters: Ludwig Uphues, Luise Mayer
Structural Engineer: HHT Engineers
Client: Federal State Saxony
Project Area: 347 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Bertram Bölkow

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Visualization: © Werner Sobek Stuttgart

ILEK at the University of Stuttgart has shared with us their winning proposal for the “Plus-Energy House with Electromobility” competition run by the German Federal Ministry of Transport. Learn more about this winning design and the ILEK after the break.
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© Jean-Luc Valentin

Architects: Stefan Forster Architekten
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Project area: 2,352 sqm
Project year: 2002 – 2005
Photographs: Jean-Luc Valentin

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© Patricia Parinejad

Photographer Patricia Parinejad just shared with us the photographs she took to the Nhow Hotel in Berlin designed by NPS Tchoban Voss, with a huge cantilever and some colorful interiors.

Take a look at the complete photoset after the break.

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©Yuri Palmin

When a miraculous engraving in copperplate of the Immaculata was brought to Neviges in the seventeenth century, it became a pilgrimage center for the religious.  Around 1960, the church decided that they wanted to construct a new building, starting a competition which would result in a new church amidst a Franciscan monastery and other late-baroque architecture. This led to a series of competitions, eventually won by architect Gottfried Böhm, although initially his design was not accepted as the judges thought it to be exaggerated and manneristic.

More on the Neviges Mariendom after the break.
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Photo by Jens Rotzsch.

Berlin base Pfeiffer Architekten have designed a simplistic, yet elegant, weekend house on a waterfront site on Arendsee in Saxony-Anhalt.  Constructed using humble materials that allow the built to seamlessly become integrated with the natural, the residence takes advantage of its setting by offering great views of the wooded forests. The residence’s dominate pitch roof finds inspiration in the traditional cottages of the 1930s and gives the home a strong identity.

More images and more about the house after the break. read more »

© Mal Booth

In 1987, the Berlin government organized an anonymous competition for an expansion to the original Jewish Museum in Berlin that opened in 1933.  The program wished to bring a Jewish presence back to Berlin after WWII.  In 1988, Daniel Libeskind was chosen as the winner among several other internationally renowned architects; his design was the only project that implemented a radical, formal design as a conceptually expressive tool to represent the Jewish lifestyle before, during, and after the Holocaust.

The original Jewish Museum in Berlin was established in 1933, but it wasn’t open very long before it was closed during Nazi rule in 1938.  Unfortunately, the museum remained vacant until 1975 when a Jewish cultural group vowed to reopen the museum attempting to bring a Jewish presence back to Berlin.  It wouldn’t be until 2001 when Libeskind’s addition to the Jewish Museum finally opened (completed in 1999) that the museum would finally establish a Jewish presence embedded culturally and socially in Berlin. read more »

© Thomas Lewandovski

After World War II, post-war Europe was suffering from a lack of housing with many displaced people from the extensive bombing raids.  In response to the housing crisis in Europe, Le Corbusier began delving into designing large scale, communal residences for the victims of World War II. One of the most notable projects in this series was the Unite d’ Habitation in Marseilles, France. This project had inspired a continued implementation of the design type across Europe. The fourth building in the series is the Corbusierhaus in Berlin, Germany. Completed in 1959, it was designed as a symbol for the modernization of Germany after the war and the Cold War. read more »

© Adrian Schulz

BERLINRODEO, a Berlin-based interior concepts office shared with us their renovation and conversion of a Wilhelminian apartment. More images and architect’s description after the break. read more »

© Thomas Lewandovski

Interested in creating a new form of design found at the intersection of architecture, art, industrial design, typography, graphic design, and interior design, Walter Gropius was inspired to create an institution known as the Bauhaus at Dessau, with an emerging style that would forever influence architecture.

Initially a school in Weimar, growing political resentment forced the move to Dessau. Gropius took this as an opportunity to build a school that reflected his hopes for the education that would be had within it’s walls. The style of the Dessau facilities hints at the more futuristic style of Gropius in 1914, also showing similarities to the International style more than the Neo-classic style.

More on the Bauhaus after the break.

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© Rainer Viertlboeck

Hegau Tower’s design is a direct result of close collaboration between architect and client; a clear modernist expression.

Located in Singen, Germany, 20 km west of Lake Constance and in immediate proximity to the Swiss border, this design by Murphy Jahn is part of a larger development plan.  The redevelopment on the south side of the main train station is a representation of  the transition of this industrial town of roughly 45,000 people from production to service based businesses.

The building is full of highly functional and energy efficient details, including thermal mass activation and integration into the HVAC system, exterior flexible shading on southwest facing facades, natural ventilation, nighttime cooling, and daylight optimization.

More photographs after the break.

Architects: Murphy Jahn
Location:  Singen, Germany
Lead Designer: Helmut Jahn
Associate Architect: Riede Architekten, Fischer und Partner Architekten
Materials/Products: Clauss Markisen (exterior shades)
Structural Engineer: Werner Sobek Ingenieure
Mechanical Engineer: Transolar Energietechnik
Client: GVV Städtische Wohnungsbaugesellschaft
Project Area: 17,056 sqm
Project Year: 2008
Photographer: Rainer Viertlboeck

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© Christoph Rokitta

Architects: HMGB architects
Location: Rheine, Germany
Photographs: Christoph Rokitta read more »

© Brigida Gonzalez

In a very rare and prestigious occasion the students of the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology received the award for 2010 AIA Chicago Distinguished Building Honor Award.  The Field Chapel in Baden-Wurttemberg Germany was part of Professor Frank Flury’s 2009 Design/Build studio.  Here you can check out our featured article about this project with photographs and sketches of the whole design/build process.

Jurors were quoted stating the following about the Field Chapel, ” we’re not able to contain our enthusiasm”, and “it’s such an honest building”.  One final juror noted that, “before I came here today, I didn’t want to see yet another building made out of sticks.  But I saw a great one here.”

Architects: Students of the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology
Location: Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Design Team: Jeffrey Burke, Andrew Clark, Carlie Douglas, Guanmin Hao, Kevin Kamien, Megan Lawler, Joseph Luciani, Juliana Masci, James Mellom, Milanko Milesic, Zhao Quian, John Ruffalo, Seth Ellsworth, Jeffrey Johnson
, Lexie Manke
Associate Architects: Ecker Architekten
General Contractor: Professor Frank Flury
Client: Lutheran Church of Bodigheim, Germany
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Brigida Gonzalez

You can check the project on our previous article.