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Architects: Civilian Projects
- Area: 60000 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Robert Rieger
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Architect of Record: Architektengemeinschaft Fehr GmbH
Text description provided by the architects. Bard College Berlin has collaborated with development and project management firm DBI Projects and New York-based architecture and interiors studio Civilian to develop new student residences. Informed by Berlin’s rich architectural and design history, they help foster student living and learning in the artistic, political, and economic center of Europe. The residences are scheduled to open in September 2021 at the start of the new academic year when students from all over the world will reside at Bard College Berlin.
Context. Set in the city’s leafy Pankow neighborhood, the former East Berlin embassy district, and arraying 39 apartments that will be home to 120 students, the twin red and gray brick buildings reflect the heterogeneous architectural character of Berlin, and create permeable connections with their surroundings. The buildings delineate the corner lot on which they are erected, forming a spacious patio that serves as an informal community gathering place and providing a gateway between the adjacent Intelligenzberg Park and Bard College Berlin’s campus.
Working closely with the development manager of DBI Projects and their local partner AVP, Civilian has overseen the architecture, interiors, furniture, and landscape design for the project together with a team of local professionals.
Architecture. Civilian’s design reimagines contemporary communal living in a city that developed the progressive housing estate during the Weimar era. The project draws inspiration from German architect and urban planner Bruno Taut and the Metropolis-era masonry Expressionist architecture of the 1920s which was known for its use of dense color, surface quality of materials, multidisciplinary approach in architecture, interiors, furniture, and emphasis on light and air. The buildings are also set in dialogue with the 1970s Neo Bauhaus architecture of the surrounding neighborhood.
The lounge and study areas on the ground floor of each building are connected by a landscaped courtyard creating a spatial social hub between the two residences and the recently converted former embassies that are now academic buildings adjacent to the project.
Interiors. The layout of the public spaces supports student learning and social exchange by providing a mix of study zones geared toward a range of uses from individual study to group or project-based work. The study lounges are distributed across both buildings while visually connected through a common material palette. One is convivial in nature and built out with a small coffee bar that accommodates events with cafe seating while the other is introspective and quiet.
Mindful of creating a flexible environment for open social exchange, living, and learning, Civilian has made a suite of custom furniture that takes inspiration from the pared-down utility of 1920s furniture by Dutch designers Gerrit Rietveld and Ko Verzuu, as well as artists Donald Judd and Andrea Zittel. In the private living spaces, multifunctional bedroom furniture made from European birch plywood maximizes storage and comfort, while incorporating high-quality materials. The beds contain drawer storage for clothing, a back and armrest to be used as a chair, and a pull-out night table with a power source and lockable compartment. Individual mirrors have an adjustable light source and lip to house family photos or postcards. Desks have an additional built-in shelf and a wardrobe provides additional open storage. Each piece of furniture has been CNC cut, flat packed, and can be easily assembled or adapted for future use.
Refinished vintage furniture from the 70s and 80s contrasts with the custom millwork and paneling that has been placed throughout the public lounge and cafe spaces. The buildings were conceived to meet Germany’s progressive energy and sustainability standards, including an innovative courtyard design that incorporates all rainwater runoff into a series of gardens planted with drought-hardy indigenous perennial plants. For the interiors, a combination of refinished, vintage, and custom furniture using minimally processed, sustainably harvested materials was sourced throughout.
The new residences provide students with a thoughtfully-designed living and studying environment that has incorporated the rich local history and that will further enhance the shaping and functioning of the close-knit intellectual community that is Bard College Berlin.
