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Start | Bauwerke | John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10 Kongresshalle Hugh A. Stubbins
41

John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
Kongresshalle
Hugh A. Stubbins

Special buildings
Bold form and indestructible photo motif: The Congress Hall Archiv Bürgerverein Hansaviertel
LayoutsBelow: plinth with foyer, exhibition areas, restaurant, above: upper floor with roof terrace and auditorium) * Unten: Sockel mit Foyer, Ausstellungsflächen, Restaurant, Oben: Obergeschoss mit Dachterrasse und Auditorium
Landesarchiv Berlin, Amtlicher Katalog der Internationalen Bauausstellung Berlin 1957
View side and front Landesarchiv Berlin, Amtlicher Katalog der Internationalen Bauausstellung Berlin 1957
Model of the “Pregnant Oyster” Landesarchiv Berlin; Foto: Willy Kiel
The shell of the Congress Hall Landesarchiv Berlin; Foto: Willy Kiel

[ Not located in the Hansaviertel ]
Instead of a residential building, the U.S. government’s gift to the young Federal Republic was a congress center as its contribution to Interbau. The location and futuristic architecture were consciously chosen as a political statement: the hall was to serve as a beacon to symbolize Western values like freedom and modernity and was placed right at the sector border, visible from East Berlin. The roof was highly avant-garde for the period and a daring construction. In fact, in 1980 it did partially collapse due to corrosion of the building steel and was then reconstructed and improved. The nearly quadratic base includes a foyer, coat checks, exhibition areas, a restaurant, and auxiliary spaces. A roof shell spans the oval auditorium. In the water basin, in which the arch of the roof is reflected to form a lens shape, stands the sculpture Large Butterfly by Henry Moore. The Congress Hall, nicknamed the “pregnant oyster” by Berliners, has housed the Haus der Kulturen der Welt since 1989.

Building
  • Congress Hall with a large auditorium (1250 seats) on a single floor base (92 by 96 m)
  • Foyer, auditoriums, exhibition space, restaurant, entrances and all auxiliary spaces in the base
  • Large platform, freestanding stairwell, water basin at the front
Construction
  • Innovative concrete construction with hyberbolic paraboloid concrete shell as a roof
  • Two 110-meter concrete arches on just two support points on the east and west side as major bearing elements.
Creation of the roof shell
Landesarchiv Berlin, Foto: Willy Kiel
Congress hall in skeleton construction
Ullstein Bild
After the partial collapse of the roof in 1983
Stadtmuseum Berlin; Foto: Rolf Goetze

Radiobericht des SFB zum Einsturz (Mai 1980): RBB die Berliner Mauer – Geschichte in Bildern

Flatowallee 16
Unité d’Habitation Typ Berlin
Le Corbusier
Straße des 17. Juni 100
Berlin Pavillon
H. Fehling – P. Pfankuch – D. Gogel

Hugh A. Stubbins

(Hugh Asher Stubbins) * 1912 in Birmingham (USA) † 2006 in Cambridge (USA)

  • studied at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, and Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge (USA)
  • 1935–1943 worked as a designer and draughtsman in various architectural offices
  • from 1940 assistant to Walter Gropius at Harvard University in Cambridge (USA)
  • 1949 foundation of Stubbins Associates architectural office in Cambridge (USA)
  • 1973–1977 Citigroup Center, New York City
  • 1974 member of the National Academy of Design
  • 1978 Federal Reserve Bank, Boston
  • 1986 Treasury Building, Singapore
  • 1993 Landmark Tower, Yokohama (for a long time the highest building in Japan)

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    Paul Schneider-Esleben
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    Luciano Baldessari
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    Gustav Hassenpflug
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    R. Lopez – E. Beaudouin
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    Hans Schwippert
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    Otto H. Senn
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    Kay Fisker
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    Max Taut
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    Franz Schuster
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    Egon Eiermann
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    Oscar Niemeyer
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    Sep Ruf
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    Günter Hönow
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    Klaus Kirsten
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    Kongresshalle
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    Berlin Pavillon

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  • Sep Ruf
  • Sten Samuelson
  • Paul Schneider-Esleben
  • Franz Schuster
  • Hans Schwippert
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  • Gerhard Siegmann
  • Hugh A. Stubbins
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