Bauakademie

Competition 1995; Finalist

"The beauty of form is the inner idea of nature. Only the flower is for the fine arts."—Karl Friedrich Schinkel: "Thoughts about Art"

In 1995 the German weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT organized an international ideas competition in protest against the so called “reconstruction” of the Bauakademie by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the historic center of Berlin. The aim of this competition was to propose a contemporary architecture for the historic site in the spirit of Schinkel's continous striving for the radical progress of architectural form.

The proposed design is a contribution to the discussion about a new kind of architectural language that is derived from natural forms. It is an effort to search for the role of architecture within the contemporary process of finding the "form" of the present. The cubic form of Schinkel's Bauakademie is replaced by a complementary figur that unfolds itself free from any axial coordinates. The airy and transparent spaces are designed to support creativity and intellectual work. They are "spaces of passage" that continously transform in volume and lucidity when inhabited.

 

 

 

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.