kulturforum: an open issue
Master thesis in architectonical and urban design.
Study and research led on the Kulturforum.The project is a protest against the wasted potential of this area related to the competition of the Museum of the XX Century.
location
Berlin
year
2017
(2)
Hp
hypothesis
Which conditions generate this contrast between the big amount of stimulus coming from the area and a constant sense of emptyness, void and isolation from the city?
My hypothesis is that this sensation is mostly due to the lack of the tangible tracks and signs of the past dispositions of this area, that stay present despite their invisibility.
A very clear example stays in the conformation of the staatsbibliothek which behaves like a mountain, giving its back to the place where once stood the wall.
Each of the historical phases left traces that are now mostly invisible but still perceivable. Old buildings are treated like memorials. The new ones try to adapt themselves to the context but create new unfamiliar rules and carry new and completely different ideals.
Each of them behaves like they are starting with a blank slate.
The area builds itself layer after layer, adding new visions. The old ones turn out to be deleted or neglected. They are covered but yet still tangible.
(2)
Hp
hypothesis
Concept
based on this hypothesis the project tries to go against the general atitude of ignoring the genius loci of the place, and focuses on the traces left from the area, with 4 main goals:
1. Avoid any action which heads toward the integration of Kulturforum in the rest of the city. Its isolation is seen as a cornerstone that must be strenghten, a trace of the place that once was and an opportunity to detach from the rest of the city.
2. Underline the perception of Scharoun of Kulturforum as a valley in which the Neue Nationalgalerie is seen as a counterpoint.
3. Use big emptyings in the massive material with the purpose of underlining the emptyness left by history.
4. Use the same emptyings to underline the MAJESTY of the existing buildings, framing them to better recognize their singularity.
