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German taxpayers are expected to spend almost €800 million on the project, which has been criticized by politicians and the media as a waste of public funds. The costs have included €300 on a toilet brush. [...]
Meanwhile, architects Herzog & de Meuron were blamed for the chaos at the Hamburg building site, after failing to stick to the planning schedule.
— thelocal.de
Previously: Hamburg sues over Herzog & de Meuron's pricey, late concert hall Starchitect Trio: The Men Behind Germany's Building Debacles View full entry
Multimedia group Axel Springer announced earlier today that BIG, OMA, and Buro-OS are the top three finalists for their new Media Center headquarters in Berlin. Final rankings are expected next month. — bustler.net
Here's a look at OMA's proposal: Images courtesy of OMA. View full entry
As we mentioned earlier today, BIG was revealed as one of three finalists — along with OMA and Buro-OS — for the new Axel Springer Media Campus in Berlin. The new Axel Springer headquarters will be located at one of the last remaining plots of the historic former site of the Berlin Wall. All winning entries will be publicly displayed at the German Architecture Centre (DAZ) in Berlin from Dec. 17 - Dec. 22. — bustler.net
Here's a glimpse of BIG's proposal: Images courtesy of BIG. View full entry
Estimated costs for the European Central Bank's new headquarters in Frankfurt have more than doubled. As has been happening with so many major projects in Germany, its construction has been plagued by poor planning, oversight and execution -- and endless delays. — Der Spiegel
Previously: Starchitect Trio: The Men Behind Germany's Building Debacles View full entry
Converting old train stations into living spaces is all the rage in Germany. They're charming and, often, affordable -- but making these buildings livable can be more difficult than people anticipate. — spiegel.de
Nuremberg plans to spend up to 70 million euro restoring the sprawling complex used by Adolf Hitler for his mass rallies, as debate continues in Germany over what to do with Nazi-era architecture.
“This is a job of national importance, we cannot take it on alone,” said Ulrich Maly, the Social Democrat mayor of the Bavarian city, who added he would ask for federal funds to complete the project.
— rt.com
Now in its 8th year, the best architects award just announced its winners. Organized annually, the program recognizes outstanding architectural design in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the South Tyrol province of Italy. — bustler.net
Doors recently opened at PALÄON, the Research and Experience Center Schöningen Spears at the edge of the tiny German town of Schöningen and its opencast lignite mine. The center sits at the site of the world-famous Schöningen Spears archaeological find – the oldest preserved hunting weapons ever discovered.
PALÄON was designed by Swiss firm Holzer Kobler Architekturen in collaboration with pbr AG and landscape architects Topotek1.
— bustler.net
SPIEGEL: Mr. de Meuron, Mr. von Gerkan and Mr. Ingenhoven, architecture's reputation in this country is worse than ever. How much of the blame do you bear? — Der Spiegel
Stuttgart's train station, Hamburg's concert house and Berlin's airport: Three projects in Germany are currently competing to be seen as the country's most disastrous. SPIEGEL spoke to the star architects behind the construction sites. View full entry
With so much discussion going on with former Nazi Party relics these days, German developers are trying to revive a valuable real estate, the Nazi built Prora resort complex which served to Hitler's upper ranks. Once it is fixed and put on the market, it will be called "Sea Symphony" with a... View full entry
A new apartment complex in Hamburg, Germany, intends to generate heat, as well as revenue, from growing the micro-organism. The five-story Bio Intelligent Quotient (B.I.Q.) building, which was expected to become fully operational on Wednesday, has a high-tech facade that looks like a cross between a Mondrian painting and a terrarium but is actually a vertical algae farm. — nytimes.com
Big Air Package is the latest project from artist Christo installed at the Gasometer Oberhausen in Germany, a facility that still holds the record as the largest disc-type gas holder in Europe that was converted into an exhibition hall in the 1990s. Big Air Package is the largest ever inflated envelope without aid of a skeleton (Gasometer Oberhausen bills it as the largest indoor sculpture in history) and reaches 90 meters high, with a diameter of 50 meters and a volume of 177,000 cubic meters. — thisiscolossal.com
Richard Meier & Partners’ mixed-use building was selected in an international competition topping submissions by Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects. The challenge, Bernhard Karpf, associate partner-in-charge, said was to create a hybrid building that was “like a city in itself,” which creates “property lines” that carves out distinct areas for rentals, offices, and shops, but still comes together in a unified and coherent design. — The Architect's Newspaper
In true Studio Berlin fashion, this last summer's group has put together a short film on their escapades throughout Europe. Enjoy! — archinect.com
Modern retailers go to extremes to make their mark and compete within an increasingly competitive market. This often goes beyond out the box design ideals such as virtual retail or smartphone-based shopping processes. — DesignBuild Source