Neues Tempodrom
Berlin, Germany
Von Gerkan, Marg und Partner

Von Gerkan, Marg und Partner recreated Berlin’s "Gateway to the South" with a new cultural icon and public square

By Sara Hart

© Christian Gahl

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

In 1980, a nurse named Irene Moessinger inherited a large sum of money and with some friends founded the Tempodrom, near the Berlin Wall, for the purpose of staging unconventional performing arts events. After moving to a second location in 1984, the Tempodrom found a permanent residence on a vast, high-profile open site created by the demolition of the Anhalter train station, which was irreparably damaged during World War II.

The program of the Tempodrom was influenced as much by the significance of the site as it was by the function of the performing arts arenas. The Anhalter terminal had been famous as the "gateway to the south" and was the second-largest train shed in Europe. The program called for establishing maximum public access in and around the facility, so that it might blend in with a new park and a promenade created to take visitors past the ruins of the train station’s entrance portal and across the old railway lines.

The client wanted the building’s form to reflect the original performing arts venue, which was a large tent flanked by a smaller one. Tentlike modesty and flexibility became Tempodrom’s trademark, which the client wanted to keep. The new program called for the same type of amphitheater volumes, one large and noisy, one smaller and intimate. Unlike the original Tempodrom, the new facility was to have a third arena—an aquatic stage for an entirely different kind of audience participation.

First of all, Von Gerkan, Marg und Partner (GMP) retained the tent idea. This time, however, the architects gave the performing arts center permanence by recreating the tent form in concrete, steel, and wood and stretching it to a height of more than 120 feet above the larger of the two arenas.

The tent structure rests on a one-story concrete and steel plinth generously glazed at multiple entrances. A wide flight of stairs on the exterior leads the public to a wooden-clad roof terrace on top of the plinth, which functions as a beer garden in the summer or a party area for performance-related events.

The large arena, with seating for 3,800, recalls the boisterousness of the circus—a container for bright lights, big sounds, and special effects for a variety of activities, including rock concerts and sports events. In contrast, the small arena seats a mere 400 and provides a more intimate setting for chamber music and staged readings. Radiating from these focal points, a series of tertiary spaces—entrances, a bistro, conference rooms, and lounge areas—share a low-key glamour rendered largely in fair-faced concrete with polished, poured asphalt floors.

Finally, GMP added a third arena, the Liquidrom, where circus tent meets thermal bath. Billed as an aquatic stage and the seemingly logical spin-off of the land-based arenas, Liquidrom is a saltwater basin, 43 feet in diameter, covered by a concrete shell, where people come to "bathe in light and music."

See the October 2003 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of Project:
Neues Tempodrom

Location:
Berlin, Germany

Gross square footage:
135,000 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$34 million

Owner:
Stiftung Neues Tempodrom

Architect:
Von Gerkan, Marg und Partner
Elbchaussee 139
22763 Hamburg, Germany
Phone: +49-40-88151-0
Fax: +49-40-88151-177
hamburg-e@gmp-architekten.de
www.gmp-architekten.de