N E T H E R L A N D S O M A
A R C H I T E C T S ,
J O A N N A C A R L O S
E M B A S S Y,
2 0 0 3
L U O , M I C H A E L J I M E N E Z
M A T T H E W S
B E R L I N
T H E
E M B A S S I E S
O F
T H E
N O R D I C
C O U N T R I E S ,
B E R L I N
N O R D I C E M B A S S I E S M A S S I N G
D U T C H E M B A S S Y M A S S I N G
copper wall
mass
d i s t i n c t
b l o c k
unified block
void
circulation cuts The Critical Reconstruction project in Berlin since the fall of
unified block
d i s t i n c t
b l o c k
communism has strived to create a unified architectural experience through instating regulations about the size of
defined block
buildings. New building projects must fill the site entirely by extending to each of its four corners, and fall within a height requirement. The Nordic Embassies and the Dutch Embassy both comment on this restriction, but in different ways. The former uses the formality of the strict block to create unification, while the latter fills the four corners of the
block edge
site but also uses the distinct cube to break away from the block.
combined block
combined block
U N F O L D I N G
A N D
F O L D I N G
T H E
T R A J E C T O R Y
politics
fitness cafe
meeting room
entrance
internet space
public works
post
deputy
ambassador roof terrace
T H E
T R A J E C T O R Y
A S
A
S E Q U E N C E
adjacent residences
Rem Koolhaas argues that Berlin is a city of voids due to its insistent awareness of its war-torn history. Bombings have created absences across the city in otherwise dense areas. Koolhaas continues the presence of the void in the city to give the Netherlands Embassy a sense of identity and context. It achieves a high level of contextual relevance by allowing this voided trajectory to fuse with the facade of the building, creating overlooks of the city.
O F
V I E W S
street
tv tower
park and river
T H E
T R A J E C T O R Y
A S
A
S E Q U E N C E
red mirror
The views are carefully calculated at each stage of the building. For example, the view of the TV Tower (a prominent communist icon) piereces through the wall and cube of the building and can be seen from the ground level by a pedestrian as well as in the building itself. Periodic views throughout an
otherwise
claustrophobic circulation path give the trajectory a sense of time. This concept is reinforced by the use of color as well, allowing it to punctuate and distinguish certain stages along the entire route.
O F
C O L O R
green trajectory
orange lighting
yellow lighting
P R O G R A M
level
1
S H A P E D
level
2
level
entrance trajector y
B Y
3
T H E
level
4
T R A J E C T O R Y
level
level deputy office
press
admin
post waiting room
sky box
deputy office
meeting room
meeting room
reception
offices
offices
offices
offices
Spaces Shaped by Trajector y
6
ambas office
internet room
Circulation Path
level
public works
entrance hall
multi-purpose room
5
7
level
8
level
9
level
politics
fitness
cafe
offices
offices
lounge meeting room
10
level
roof terrace
11
S E C U R I T Y
A L O N G
T H E
T R A J E C T O R Y
section A
L I V E
WORK
PARK
The Dutch Embassy emphasizes the security of openness, by separating living and work spaces. The access road between the cube and the reisdential wall acts as a courtyard open to one side to allow a panoramic view over the Spree and the park.
section B
B
A circulation spaces public spaces private spaces
The trajectory of the Dutch Embassy defines the programmatic requirements. Public spaces line along the trajectory, such as meeting rooms, fitness area, and cafe. The workspaces are the ‘leftover areas’ after the trajectory was ‘carved’ out of the cube and situated along the facade. A continuous trajectory reaching all eight stories of the embassy shapes the building’s internal communication.
T H E
M A S K
O F
B E R L I N tra ns l uc e nt
The exterior of the Netherlands Embassy appears to be a conservative structure governed by the conventions of West Berlin. The regularity of the cube’s glass and steel facade uses materials that emphasize OMA’s overall approach to the design of the embassy: the obedient approach (strictly fulfilling the block’s perimeter) with a disobedient one (building an isolated cube). The range of opacity of the materials used on the facade of the building highlight the public spaces that graze the exterior and provide strategic views of the Spree and the TV tower. There are two different types of broad glass walls, which include occasional sliding elements, and also of plates-lacquered steel bearing a large number 50, the address of the building below on the KlosterstradBe.
clear glass
tinte d g las s
p e r f o rate d s te e l
b r us he d s te e l
re inf o rc e d c o nc re te
opa que
T E C H N O L O G Y
A I R F L O W
D E T A I L
S E C T I O N
3 -
o
-
o
-
+ +
o
o o
-
o
-
o +
o +
o
o
o
+ + +
2o
-
metal slats sunshading coating
south facade section
1
2
safety glass
double pane glass stretch metal cover
north, east, west facade section
1 trajectory contains pressurized air
1 air moves through grill openings
2 air passively moves into office space
2 slots with preset openings sized for program
3 negative charge pulls air outside into facade
3 self-regulating air valve, preset for temperature
24mm 100mm
10mm
1
o
3
S E C T I O N S
trajectory wall section
16mm
-
o
+
W A L L
40mm
S E C T I O N
100mm
A I R F L O W
F A C A D E
32mm
P E R M E A B L E
safety glass
double pane glass sunshading coating sunshading coating
S T R U C T U R E A T E A C H L E V E L
S T R U C T U R E
The structure of the embassy is highly irregular, but from the facade it is
dynamic: the façade is nothing else than an envelope or a filter between interior and exterior. In Koolhaas’s project there
level
relation allows us to put light on a new
8
difficult read the complexity. This
is not an immediate relation between the two spaces. The building envelope just covers the function of border. This
The skin also creates a strong, defined boundary between the interior and
level
ornamental function.
7
dynamic frees the shape from any
exterior, as if the facade is a mask. Although this limit allows the structure
level
2
contrary it hides it behind a veil.
level
not reveal it in its true essence: on the
4
to define itself through a shape, it does
C O N S I S T E N T
I N C O N S I S T E N T
elevator core load-bearing mullions
walls columns
R E L A T I O N S H I P P R O J E C T I O N S C U B E
T O
C O N T E X T P R O J E C T I O N S
F R O M
O U T W A R D
T O
C O N T E X T
C O N T E X T
F R O M
I N W A R D
T O
C U B E
skybox
view to the tv tower
A meeting room projects over the
The TV Tower is a strong symbol
courtyard space, cantilevered by
in Berlin representing the former
giant trusses. Passerby can see
communist regime. A void carved
into the meeting space, creating a
from the ground level in the park
dialogue between the public and
cuts through the cube and the wall
the ambassadors.
to frame a view of the tower.
trajectory
entrance from courtyard
The most transparent part of the
The TV Tower is a strong symbol
building winds throughout the
in Berlin representing the former
interior, carving its presence into
communist regime. A void carved
the two exterior facades.
from the ground level in the park cuts through the cube and the wall to frame a view of the tower.
core The
residential wall elevator
provides
A residential wall adheres to the
structure and the mechanical core
Critical Reconstruction city code
houses
of
which specifies that all four
performative equipment. They
corners of the site have to be built
pierce through the roof, exposing
up. It also frames the cube from
a stable center around which the
the major road to the north,
trajectory can wind.
reorienting the cube towards the
the
core
majority
river to the south.