The #international_competition for the #new_campus of the #philological_institute in #Berlin was won by #architects #Candilis, #Josic, #Woods and #Schiedhelm in 1963. The #hyper_ambitious_project, rooted in 1960s #optimism, was a two/three floors mat building, originally 350,000 square metres wide, composed by an #expanding_grid and based on a #modular_scheme. The #project had the #purpose of #transforming the #campus in a #deeply_interconnected_city with #internal_streets, #squares, #courtyards and #multiple_walkways on the #model of an #Arabic_Medina. The #articulation of several #spatial and #constructive_elements, always composed in a different fashion through the developing of the scheme, provided an #incredible_variety of #ambiences within a #controlled_modular_system. A #strong_five_colours_scheme, red, yellow, green, blue and purple, completed the #spatial_richness and was used for #orientation_purposes.
The main concept behind the proposal was a radical rethinking of the educational system with an accent on flexibility and evolutivity of space as well as a literal spatial translation of the idea of horizontal communication among students and teachers. Classrooms, departments and facilities were to be decentralized and distributed on the grid without any hierarchical organization.
Construction techniques were to be as radical as the main design concept and reinforced the flexibility of the scheme through pre-fabrication and lightness. Famous French engineer Jean Prouvé was behind the conception of the structural system (concrete-encased steel columns, I-section steel beams and prefabricated reinforced concrete slabs) and the detailing. The modules of the Cor-ten steel façade should also have been easily demountable and rearranged, expanding the idea of flexibility from the interior spaces to the exterior appearance of the building.
Even from the early stages of construction in 1967, the fascinating scheme proved all its complications, revealing the complexity to organize a university in a maze-like system. Even the avantgardist technical solution of the façade lead to fast deterioration as the thin modules let water and air pass through and quickly rust the exterior skin.
In 1997, Foster+Partners won the competition to restore the building and add a library. The office intervened profoundly in the deeply damaged structures but substantially respected the building’s aims and logic while improving its functioning. A further addition has been made in 2004 by Florian Nagler Architects, proceeding with the same building logic, but correcting its technical construction and distributional functionality.
[Shadrach Woods, Candilis-Josic-Woods: Building for People (New York: F.A.Praeger, 1968), 208]
[Shadrach Woods, Candilis-Josic-Woods: Building for People (New York: F.A. Praeger, 1968), 209].
[Gabriel Feld and Peter Smithson, Free University, Berlin: Candilis, Josic, Woods, Schiedhelm. Exemplary Projects, 3 (London: Architectural Association, 1999), 16].
(Photograph by Dina Krunic – see on ‘Further reading’ section).
Free University, Berlin : Candilis, Josic, Woods, Schiedhelm. Exemplary Projects, 3 (London: Architectural Association, 1999), 83].
The Free University of Berlin (Candilis, Josic, Woods and Schiedhelm – 1963).
by Mariabruna Fabrizi
http://socks-studio.com/2015/10/29/the-free-university-of-berlin-candilis-josic-woods-and-schiedhelm-1963/
October 29, 2015
Further reading:
“The Free University Still Embodies The Social And Architectural Dynamic Of The 1960s“, on Architects Journal
“The Radically Modular Free University Of West Berlin” on Uncube Magazine
“The Groundscraper: Candilis Josic Woods and the Free University Building in Berlin“, an essay by Dina Krunic
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