The American Academy in Berlin, founded in 1994 by Richard C.Holbrooke, Henry A. Kissinger, and Richard von Weizs.cker, is a vital and growing center for residential fellowships for American scholars, writers, policymakers, and artists, among them alumni Arthur Miller, Jonathan Franzen, Jenny Holzer, Jeffrey Eugenides, Hal Foster, and Jonathan Safran Foer.

The Academy is housed in the Hans Arnhold Center, a picturesque 19th-century villa on a large parcel of land directly on the Wannsee.
 

Description of the project by Regine Leibinger

The success of the Academy’s program has led to a dearth of available space, so plans for a garden pavilion -by Regine Leibinger, were initiated to provide more study space for resident fellows. A disused bathhouse, located on the left side of the Academy’s expansive yard and nestled along an old masonry wall, provided the ideal site. An existing sculpture, "Verkündigung" (1937), gestures to this new pavilion, recalling Kolbe‘s "Der Morgen" (1925) at Mies van der Rohe‘s Barcelona Pavilion.

Reminiscent of earlier practice prototypes—such as the “Loom Hyperbolic” installation at the 2012 Marrakesh Biennale—as well as the history of 20th century pavilions, Barkow Leibinger conceived a lightweight glass and steel structure. Central to the enclosed space of seven study carrels and a small kitchen is a roof of steel beams that forms a double-curved surface, which appears to float over the lower spaces. The form of the pavilion’s roof is a result of “ruled geometry”: offset straight lines rotated to produce four hyperbolic paraboloids, a shape that is both abstract and familiar, since it reflects, if only in elevation, the gabled roof of the historical villa. The distinctness of the pavilion is further enhanced by both its seeming to “float” above the garden’s green lawn, and its dominant white color. LED lighting, located at the top of the carrel walls, further emphasizes this effect at night by illuminating the ceiling, which appears then to float above the structure itself.

The roof is supported at the corners by four I-beam columns, which also serve as rainwater drains. An oak-plank-clad steel platform sits slightly above the ground and is the primary surface for both exterior and interior spaces. A glass fa.ade of sliding doors and glazing sits back from the building’s perimeter, which creates a continuous porch area around the entire structure and allows for increased transparency into and from the pavilion. Inside, the 7m. study spaces are divided by ceiling-high walls, constructed of glass, oak, and steel. The individual spaces open to an internal corridor via glass doors, and into the garden area via large glass sliding-doors, which may be shuttered by curtains for privacy. Each office is outfitted with built-in metal shelves, drawers, and a desk, complemented by freestanding furniture from Vitra. The three-layer glazing, floor and wall heating, and well-insulated floors and roof contribute to the energy efficient structure.

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Project team
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Tobias Wenz (project architect), Gustav Düsing, Ulrich Fuchs, Annette Wagner.
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Collaborators
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Structural Engineer.- Hörnicke-Hock-Thieroff (HHT), Berlin, Mechanical Engineer.- HDH - Ingenieurgesellschaft für technische Gebäudeausrüstung mbH, Berlin, Landscape Architect.- Capatti Staubach, Berlin.
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Program
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7 Study Carrels, Kitchen, Restrooms.
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Location
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Berlin-Wannsee, Germany.
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Area
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85 sqm.
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Completion year
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2015.
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Client
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American Academy in Berlin.
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Photography
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Barkow Leibinger’s work is realized over a wide range of scales and building types including building for workplace (industry, office, and master-planning), cultural, housing, event spaces, exhibitions and installations in the public realm internationally. Important milestones are amongst others the Biosphere in Potsdam, Germany, the Customer and Administration Building , the Gate House and the Campus Restaurant in Ditzingen, Germany and the Trutec Building in Seoul. Recently completed buildings include the Tour Total office high-rise in Berlin and an apartment and hotel complex in passive house standard in Freiburg, Germany.

Their work has been shown at the Architecture Biennale Venice 2008 and 2014, at the Marrakech Biennale 2012 and is included in the permanent collections of MoMA, New York, and the Deutsches Architektur Museum, Frankfurt. Barkow Leibinger have won three National AIA Honor Awards for Architecture and the prestigious Marcus Prize for Architecture, Milwaukee, recognizing emerging talent in the field for design excellence and innovation, as well a Global Holcim Innovation Award for sustainability.

Frank Barkow. Born in Kansas City, USA, 1957. Bachelor of Architecture, Montana State University, 1982. Master of Architecture, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, 1990. Visiting Critic, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York and Rome, 1990. Unit Master, Architectural Association, London, 1995-98. The Arthur Gensler Visiting Professor of Architecture Cornell University, Ithaca, 2003. Cass Gilbert Visiting Professor, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 2004. Visiting Professor, State Academy of Art and Design, Stuttgart, Germany, 2005-06. Visiting Professor, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, USA, 2008, 04, 00. Visiting Professor, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, School of Architecture & Urban Planning, USA, 2008. Visiting Professor, EPFL Écoles Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, 2010. Barkow Leibinger, Berlin, Germany, Since 1993.

Regine Leibinger. Born in Stuttgart, Germany, 1963. Diploma, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, 1989. Master of Architecture, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, USA, 1991. Assistant Professor, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, 1993–97. Unit Master, Architectural Association, London, England, 1997–98. Guest Professor, Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg, Germany, 1999–2000. Visiting Professor, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, USA, 2000, 04. Professor for Building Construction and Design, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany Since 2006. Member of the ’Visiting Committees’, MIT Department of Architecture, Cambridge, USA, Since 2011. Barkow Leibinger Architects, Berlin, Germany, Since 1993.

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