Architecture
Germany has a thriving architectural scene which includes big names on the German and international stage as well as up-and-coming German architectural firms. Following the reunification, Berlin became one of the main centers for modern architecture but it has also undertaken great measures to restore and preserve its historical masterpieces, including the magnificent Museum Island.
Current trends include a leaning toward a multiplicity of forms, as seen in Daniel Liebeskind’s extension to the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Norman Foster’s Reichstag dome, and the Gehry buildings on the Düsseldorf waterfront, or toward Bauhaus-inspired minimalism such as Berlin’s new central railway station by Meinhard von Gerkan. It is in green building and ecological improvements, however, that German architecture really leads the way.
The Humboldt brothers envisioned the totality and unity of the arts and sciences as their ideal. That ideal was realized in the consolidation of the Humboldt University humanities libraries, whose edifice was designed by Swiss architect Max Dudler.
The New Central Library at Humboldt University in Berlin
The Porsche Museum is the latest institution to join what is being termed “carchitecture.” These sensational buildings are the platforms with which German car companies promote themselves.
The Porsche Museum
Named after the famous brothers who pushed 19th century science toward the modern era, a new center for the arts and sciences will soon be built on the site of the erstwhile Berlin City Palace.
Humboldt Forum
Revolutionary architecture, such the Neues Bauen of the twenties, Neue Sachlichkeit, and functionalism, were early international exports. Today, Germany's eco-design and sustainable building practices are inspiring architects and builders worldwide.
German Architecture
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