Philharmonie

Rising with its golden roof from the self-inflicted ashes of World War II, right at the center of the remains of Hitler’s megalomaniac World Capital Germania, the new concert hall for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra has become the symbol of another Germany; a newly democratized nation that sought to reshape itself with the help of cultural experiences. Today, the Philharmonie is the nucleus of Berlin’s Kulturforum with five museums, two concert venues and the state library, West Berlin’s response during the Cold War to the Museum Island on the east of Berlin. Scharoun (1893-1972) had pursued all his life to project a symbol for new democracy in Germany. Ever since the revolutionary air swept German society after World War I, Scharoun and a number of his friends were dreaming of the new gleaming glass dome on top of a cultural building that would become the alternative to the cathedral. More than four decades later, the purpose-built concert hall for one of the world’s most respected orchestras, opened its doors to an avid audience. With this fifth O’Neil Ford Monograph, the Archive of the Academy of the Arts, Berlin, the Center for American Architecture and Design together with the O’Neil Ford Chair in Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin document another outstanding example of contemporary architecture. This fifth volume includes three essays and the reproduction of extensive hitherto unpublished archival material, and concludes with a comprehensive selection of photographs.