The American Academy in Berlin, a vital and growing center for residential fellowships for American scholars, is housed in the Hans Arnhold Center, a picturesque 19th-century villa on a large parcel of land directly on the Wannsee. Barkow Leibinger designed a new pavilion with seven study carrels and a small kitchen, providing more study space for resident fellows. Spanning the lightweight glass and steel structure is a double curved roof surface made of linear steel beams, appearing to float over the study spaces. Offset straight lines (ruled geometry) rotate to produce four hyperbolic paraboloids, a shape that is both abstract and familiar since it reflects, if only in elevation, the gabled roof of the historical villa.
An oak-plank-clad steel platform sits slightly above the ground and is the primary surface for both exterior and interior spaces. The individual spaces can be private and screened by internal curtains or opened to the garden area via large glass sliding doors. A continuous wrap-around porch area offers a space for social interaction if desired and helps shade the transparent pavilion from the sun.
Architects
Barkow Leibinger, Berlin
Frank Barkow, Regine Leibinger
Team
Tobias Wenz (project architect), Gustav Düsing, Ulrich Fuchs, Annette Wagner
Program
7 Study Carrels, Kitchen, Restrooms
Location
Berlin-Wannsee, Germany
Size
ca. 85 sqm
Completion
2015
Client
American Academy in Berlin
Tendering/Construction Management
BAL Bauplanungs und Steuerungs GmbH, Berlin
Structural Engineer
Hörnicke-Hock-Thieroff (HHT), Berlin
Mechanical/Electrical Engineer
HDH - Ingenieurgesellschaft für technische Gebäudeausrüstung mbH, Berlin
Building Physics
Müller -BMM, Berlin
Landscape Architect
Capatti Staubach, Berlin
Photos
© Simon Menges, Berlin
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