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Project Portfolio – July 2005

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Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Berlin, Germany
Eisenman Architects

Peter Eisenman’s vision for Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

	Photo © Roland Halbe

	Web Exclusive: Click here for our timeline that describes the events that led to this final project. We also feature construction photos of the making of this memorial.

By Suzanne Stephens

Designing memorials to the Holocaust is usually fraught with dilemmas peculiar to this unusually sensitive topic. Such philosophical questions as aesthetics, memory and memorialization, the nature of mourning, and the passage of time persistently confront the designer, and if left unresolved can subvert his or her original intention. Nevertheless, Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, which was dedicated on May 10, addresses these issues in a particularly compelling manner. Although it is hard to predict how effective this solution will remain for future generations, so far the memorial has attracted throngs of people to its 4.7-acre site just south of the Brandenberg Gate. Eisenman’s scheme, which has gone through several iterations since he, with sculptor Richard Serra, participated in an invited competition in 1997, fills that site behind the DG Bank by Frank Gehry [Record, October 2001, page 120] and at the rear of the newly reconstituted haute-luxe Adlon Hotel with 2,711 blank, dark gray concrete pillars—or as they are often called, steles. (Stele is the Greek term for a slab or upright stone, frequently inscribed, used as commemorative markers in ancient times.) These abstract forms, 3 feet wide and almost 8 feet long, vary in height up to 15 feet and occupy a grid with 3-foot-wide paths. Eisenman sculpted the flat site into rolling contours so that the steles’ differing heights are exaggerated, then tilted them from .5 to 2 degrees in two different directions to maintain an overall unity of a level top (not slanted) within this changing topography. These elements—abstract forms, gridded plan, rolling terrain—adhere to the overriding theme of repetition with displacement, to create an immensely powerful kinesthetic, tactile, and visual experience.

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the People

Owner
Dr. Hans-Erhard Haverkampf
Stiftung
Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas
Stesemannstrasse 90
D-10963 Berlin Germany
T: +49-(0)30-26 39 43-0
F: +49-(0)30-26 39 43-20

Chief executive:
Dr. Hans-Erhard Haverkampf
Dr. Günter Schlusche

Architect
Eisenman Architects
41 W. 25th Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10010
Tel: 212.645.1400
Fax: 212.645.0726
www.eisenmanarchitects.com

Design Principal:
Peter Eisenman

Associate:
Richard Rosson

Project Designers:
Sebastian Mittendorfer
Ingeborg Rocker

Design Team:
Matteo Cainer, Gordana Jakimovska, Yangsong Ma, Matias Musacchio, Emmanuel Petit, Kai Peterson, Wiebke Schneider, Oliver Zorn

Project Assistants:
Emily Abruzzo, Jean-Paul Amato, Lars Bachmann, Markos Beuerlein, Walter Wulf Boettger, Volker Bollig, Anja Brueggemann, Artur Carulla, Stefano Colombo, Nina Delius, Constantin Doehler, Hayley Eber, Alexa Eissfeldt, Karsten Fiebiger, Juliane Fisher, Christian Guttack, Bart Hollanders, Nadine Homann, Peter Hufer, Julia Hochgesand, Tilman Kriesel, Christian Lange, Jakob Ohm Laursen, Dirk LeBlanc, Philipp Muessigmann, Claire Sà, Nicole Schindler, Stephanie Streich, Minako Tanaka, Wolf von Trotha, Karen Weber

Construction Manager
Architekt Manfred Schasler
Manfred Schasler
Axel Heintz

Engineer(s)
Happold Ingenierbuero GmbH
Pfalzburger Strasse 43-44
10717 Berlin Germany
Tel: +49 (0)30 860 906-0
Fax: +49 (0)30 860 906-66
www.burohappold.com
Paul Rogers, Martin Strewinski, Ewan McLeod, Steffen Philipp

Consultant(s)
Landscape:
Olin Partnership www.olinptr.com
Laurie Olin, David Rubin

Soil consultant:
Elmiger and Karstedt GmbH

Fire protection:
Hosser, Hass und Partner

General Contractor
Firma Geithner Bau A.G., Wilhelmshaven www.degussa.com
Degussa A.G., Düsseldorf

Photographer(s)
Roland Halbe
Boeheimstr. 45
D-70199 Stuttgart
Germany
tel +49 711 6074073
contact@rolandhalbe.de
www.rolandhalbe.com

CAD system, project management, or other software used
AutoCAD www.autodesk.com, Rhino, 3D studiomax, Microsoft Office office.microsoft.com

the Products

Finishes
Self-compacting concrete:
Geithner

Glass façade:
Schüco www.schueco.de, Bemo www.bemo.com

Raised floor:
Lindner

Floor finish:
Regupol/BSW www.regupol.com

Lighting
Outdoor lighting:
Zumtobel www.zumtobel.com

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