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Completion: 1993
Client: The President of the House of Deputies in the City of Berlin
Use: House of Deputies with plenary space, conference space, library, canteen, offices of the political parties, exhibition spaces
Size: 44.140 m²
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Layers
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During the period of the divided city, the House of Deputies of West Berlin was temporarily located in the city district of Schöneberg. With the fall of The Wall this location became obsolete. The Parliament decided to reoccupy the building of the former Prussian Parliament in Berlin-Mitte. The building was part of the ensemble of Göhring´s Luftfahrt Miniterium during the Third Reich. It had also been used as office space for the House of Ministries during the East German period. Thus the building is an important reminder of the complex history of both the city of Berlin and of Germany.
The renovation plan resulted from a careful reading of the building, originally designed by architect Schultze. Much like an archeological site, rules were established that would retain and ensure the visibility of the layers of the history of the building. The intervention relates dialectically to the previous layers of occupancy and is designed to contrast the architectures of the past. A “historical promenade”, supported by the necessary functions, leads the visitors through the building and into the main assembly space.
The Plenary Assembly space is conceived as a “room within a room”. This allows for the walls to be interpreted exactly as they were discovered. The infill construction is composed of a primary steel structure - independent of its containing walls - and layered with acoustical panels and reflectors, which create the new assembly space for the plenary sessions.