..News ..Portfolio ..Exhibitions ..Publications ..Firm ..Contact	1999 The Embassies of the Nordic Countries in Berlin INDIVIDUALITY AND UNION The five Nordic countries - Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden - decide to build their embassies together on one site. This notion gives rise to the questions: What is communal, how about individuality? Five comparatively small buildings are located on the fringes of Tiergarten in the centre of Berlin, which is presently densifying at a considerable rate. It is not conventional means of architecture that give these buildings their presence within this context but their quality of defining landscape. The particular built elements are cut out of a solid whole. The buildings' facades define the voids between them. A tension of emptiness is suspended between the buildings like an enduring memory of the whole. The open space remains as an invitation to communicate and at the same time provides the necessary distance for the specific position of each embassy. A copper band wraps and links the buildings on the outer edge. The skin obscures the built solidity of the embassies and forms a gentle transition to the dimension of the Tiergarten landscape. The large scale gives the group of six buildings the quality of a landmark in the heart of Berlin. FELLESHUS The house for joint activities is called "Felleshus", which already hints at its spirits: It is a "house for all", a place for congregation, both for members of the embassies as well as for visitors and people from Berlin. The Felleshus is a place for cultural exchange and information. As the entrance building to the complex it is the most visited part of the Nordic embassies. A wide range of activities can take place in an auditorium, exhibition spaces, conference and VIP dining rooms. A restaurant functions as the central meeting place for embassy staff members. The consular sections of all five countries are located here. The volume of the Felleshus is characterised by its relatively closed wooden facades that oppose the glazed open spaces in the interior of the building. At night time the activities taking place in the house appear as a fragmented image through the characteristic slatted wood facade. THE COPPER BAND The copper band encloses the six buildings of the Nordic Embassy Complex in Berlin as a continuous and autonomous element. Its flowing movement transforms the scale of the individual buildings. The shift in scale gives the embassy buildings the appropriate presence on the fringes of Berlin's Tiergarten. The copper band is a sum of copper lamellas mounted on a stainless steel construction. The angles at which the copper lamellas are inclined control the amount of permeability for light, view and air. The openings only reveal parts of the spaces behind: The band wraps the embassy buildings yet only touches parts of them. In some cases it completes courtyards, flowing freely across some distances. The copper band opens up only towards Rauchstrasse - the main access to the embassy complex. Amount of copperlamellas: 3.850 Total lenght of the copper band: 226 m EXTERIOR Through the insistent clearness of the buildings inside and the vanishing of the architecture to the landscape of the "Tiergarten" outside, the tension between nature and refined culture is represented. This shows the relation between architecture and untouched nature in the north of Europe. Birch-trees will accentuate the Nordic character outside the copper band. The centre of the building complex "The Plaza" is covered with natural stone from Norway and Sweden. It forms a half-public space with a strong identity. The spatial perspective of the buildings is strengthened by contrasting stone stripes of Swedish marble with integrated spot lights. The entrance area beneath the canopy will be marked with a wood-block paving; a threshold between the urban public space and the internal area of the Embassies. At night the dynamic shaped volume of the soft canopy creates a light-cloud above the entrance. As a symbol for the ocean connecting all nordic countries a waterbasin is cutting through the complex in a clear geometric form and penetrates the copperband on two sides. All five embassies reflect in the water. Above the water the copper band is lightly cut out to allow passers-by some glimpses into the complex without giving access to the building. Access is only possible on the south at the Rauchstrasse, where the "Felleshus" welcomes the visitors. Project Logistics Back to Portfolio