IBZ Berlin
The International Meeting Center for Science (IBZ Berlin) is a residential building for foreign guest researchers from the Free University of Berlin , the Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation scholarship holders . It is located on Wiesbadener Strasse in the Berlin district of Wilmersdorf . The IBZ Berlin is a founding member of the Association of International Meeting Centers for Science , an association of IBZ and university-related guest houses in Germany . The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Volkswagen Foundation and the State of Berlin supported the financing of the roughly 25 million marks (adjusted for purchasing power in today's currency: around 24 million euros) . From 2010 to 2011, the building was carefully refurbished in terms of energy efficiency with financial help from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation .
The facility is operated by an association , the Internationales Treffenzentrum der Wissenschaft eV , whose sponsors, in addition to private individuals and small institutions, are the Free University of Berlin and the Max Planck Society. Task of the IBZ e. V. is the promotion of the scientific and artistic exchange of ideas between international scientists and artists and their German colleagues. To this end, the association organizes lecture series, concerts and seminars for residents and guests in the IBZ.
History of the IBZ
The idea of international meeting centers for German and foreign scientists was developed in the 1950s on the initiative of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and thus followed American models of apartment buildings for academics on the university campus.
If the American role models are characterized by their proximity to campus , the situation in Berlin was significantly different: The property of a garden colony provided by the State of Berlin was conveniently located on the subway line towards Dahlem - where most of the Free University's institutes were located Berlin - and is still a few kilometers from the campus. Institutions close to the university as meeting rooms for visiting researchers were also not available and were therefore newly developed for the IBZ Berlin.
Architecture of the IBZ Berlin
At first glance, the 1979 to 1983 from the looks Munich architects Otto Steidle constructed buildings of different sizes and different dimensions as a typical Berlin with 78 apartments tenement house from. On closer inspection, however, building typological features become apparent: Above all, the rooms for meeting other tenants, for communication and for living together, which are usually lacking in classic apartment buildings, are plentiful in the IBZ Berlin: The meeting rooms range from a club room on the ground floor to a public library, a fitness room, a billiard room, communal kitchens and a large event room on the top floor.
The 78 apartments in the IBZ Berlin are divided as follows:
- 17 single apartments with 38–47 m²
- 19 two-room apartments with 48–57 m²
- 11 three-room apartments with 64–77 m²
- 30 four-room apartments with 86–116 m²
- 1 five-room apartment with 115 m²
The small apartments and flats are in the front area of the house on Ahrweilerstraße . There are three communal kitchens assigned to them, which can be used by the residents if necessary, and they are used primarily for the single residents to meet their neighbors.
Steidle's conviction was: “It is not the house that determines the city, but the city that determines the house”. Accordingly, he developed the building from the area around Rüdesheimer Platz , the Rheingau district that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century . In doing so, he wanted to ensure that the house would have a connecting effect on the grown urban quarter without having to forego the design claim of creating entirely new spaces.
Architecture competition for the IBZ Berlin
In 1978 a competition was held. The jury included prominent architects such as Erich Schneider-Wessling , Gottfried Böhm from Cologne , the Swiss architect Hans Müller , the architectural historian Julius Posener and the publicist Rolf Rave . Invited participants were also the Berlin architectural offices of Hinrich Baller , Winnetou Kampmann , Manfred Schiedhelm and the planning collective No. 1 .
The given and largely implemented space plan provided for 78 apartments, of which 16 were single apartments, 19 two-room apartments, 12 three-room apartments, 28 four-room apartments and three five-room apartments. A third of the apartments should be able to be connected to others. The meeting area should include a hall, two club rooms and tea kitchens. In addition, an underground car park was planned. Quite innovative for this time was the desire for further considerations on energy saving beyond the thermal insulation ordinance valid at the time .
The jury praised the consistent further development of the historical building conditions and the design principles of Steidle's competition entry. The winning design was also praised for its access via a courtyard-side stairway and for the resulting floor plan structures. The meeting rooms were recognized as exemplary for such a building task, although the number of areas was twice exceeded: “Urbanity can be defined as an independent relationship and interaction between public and private. For this interaction, the border areas, the transition areas from one's own space to general space, from the individual to the collective, are of particular importance. The allocation of residential, development and communal areas with their boundaries and transitions and their design and functional training determine the communicative character of the building. ”However, possible deficiencies in building regulations such as the lack of necessary stairwells were given for revision.
Especially the diagonal, covered stairway (deciduous staircase) has an essential function, but it connects all home sections together and, with its arcades and common areas to house-related public space. The courtyard-side path begins at the central entrance to Wiesbadener Straße with the rental office and former gallery space (today: Club) and extends up to the fifth floor. While all apartments are accessible on the house side of the stairway, there are additional communal areas such as library and sports rooms as well as a children's room (today: office) on the courtyard side of the complex.
The stairway, screened off by a trellis, creates familiarity and protection. The scaffolding was created by the Berlin artist Erich Wiesner , who also designed the color concept for the building. With the stairway, Steidle designed a communicative and habitable space for the house community as an offer for the users. “Inhabitable buildings are not just residential buildings, but rather all structures that include, among other things, the qualities of living”, explains Steidle and directs his architecture “against the purely functionalistic and against an architecture of the specific”.
The green areas of the IBZ Berlin
The green concept of the IBZ Berlin, for which Peter Latz is responsible, essentially relates to three areas: the front gardens, the courtyard garden and the roof. The front gardens refer to the historical existence of the Rüdesheimer Platz. The same applies to the trellis scaffolding on the street side, which, however, was removed during facade work at the beginning of the 21st century and, according to the operator, will be rebuilt in a modified way in the next few years in cooperation with Erich Wiesner.
The street-side entrances to the respective houses are highlighted by trees arranged in pairs. In the courtyard garden, paths running parallel to the stairway dominate, although some parts have been reshaped over time and are no longer recognizable today. In addition, raised beds, areas for shady plants, artificial and lawn areas alternate, as do tall solitary trees along the property line and low woody trees on the house facade.
Unfinished roof garden
The huge glazed roof area of the IBZ was designed as a communal roof garden and should also be open to the neighborhood. This was to compensate for the colony of foliage that had disappeared. In addition, terraces were planned on both sides of the roof for the house community. While the terraces were partially planted with greenery, the roof garden remained unrealized to this day, although all the conditions were in place.
Remarkable floor plans
The living floor plans of the building are also special because none of them are the same: The living rooms are open and very transparent and mostly have a triple-exposed bay window facing south. The bedrooms are smaller and more closed, but offer visual connections to the respective living space through floor-to-ceiling glass partitions. In the large apartments there are also storage spaces that can be used as chambers or storage rooms. While American and Scandinavian models are more recognizable in the floor plan , it is in the furnishings of the residential buildings of the 1920s and the Berlin Taut School. The design of the doors and windows, the glazed vestibules and the stairs in the maisonette apartments are very reminiscent of the social housing of the classical modern era of the Weimar Republic , which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Berlin .
Although the equipment and furniture in all apartments is largely the same, the varied design of the floor plan emphasizes the individuality of each guest within a democratic house community. The prerequisites, according to the theoretical approach, are similar and given. On the basis of the common prerequisites, however, very own personal individuals develop and mature, who shape themselves and prefer different living spaces. In contrast to many other IBZs, the Berlin building has a large number of large apartments that make it possible for academic families to travel along. The number of children in the IBZ Berlin has therefore been correspondingly high since the establishment was founded.
Dispute over allotments
The planned evacuation of the arbor colony was, as is not uncommon in Berlin, associated with violent protests. The plot owners had used the centrally located property for decades, and the residents had also taken the green space to their hearts. The emergence of a leaf colony on the prominent corner was only possible because the property was one of the few areas in the Rheingauviertel that had remained undeveloped since the residential area was founded and that was owned by the State of Berlin. The two world wars had always prevented parcelling, sale and development.
Literature and Sources
- Florian Kossak: Habitable Buildings : In: Otto Steidle - Habitable Buildings / Structures for Living . Zurich, Munich, London 1994.
- Technical University of Munich (Ed.): Otto Steidle - Land City House . Salzburg, Munich 2004.
- Senator for Building and Housing (Ed.): Living together at Rüdesheimer Platz: The international meeting center for foreign scientists . Berlin 1983.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Otto Steidle quoted from: Technical University of Munich (Ed.): Otto Steidle - Land Stadt Haus . Salzburg, Munich 2004, p. 8 f.
- ^ Technical University of Munich (ed.): Otto Steidle - Land City House . Salzburg, Munich 2004, p. 48
- ↑ See Senator for Building and Housing (Hrsg.): Common living at Rüdesheimer Platz: The international meeting center for foreign scientists . Berlin 1983.
- ↑ Florian Kossak: Inhabitable Buildings : In: Otto Steidle - Bewohnbare Bauten / Structures for Living . Zurich, Munich, London 1994, p. 12
Coordinates: 52 ° 28 ′ 23.1 " N , 13 ° 18 ′ 56.7" E