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A KALEIDOSCOPIC SYMPHONY

BERLIN, GERMANY

GPS:  52°29'55.4"N 13°25'43.3"E   Typology: Theatre
Year:  2024
Type: Academic
Tutors: Douglas McCorkell

Every neighbourhood is a sum of its cultures. Some are mono-cultural, with one dominating heritage providing the character of a place. Others are multicultural, with different backgrounds of people throughout the area. Berlin’s neighbourhood Kreuzberg is a clear example of a multicultural neighbourhood containing cultures from across the globe. This multiculturalism is typically known as a “melting-pot” where a bunch of different cultures melt into one shared visual and communal identity. This doesn't quite apply to Kreuzberg though, as each culture is so heterarchically distinct within the architecture. Kreuzberg is instead a kaleidoscope. In Lawrence Fuchs book ”The American Kaleidoscope”, he uses a “kaleidoscope of cultures” as a metaphor for the voluntary multicultural pluralism within American history. This more accurately describes the distinct nature of these ethnicities within the architecture of Kreuzberg.

The building takes the German, and Turkish cultures (the two most prevalent in the area) and expresses them as two distinct strata: the convention, and the abstraction. The convention houses the solid elements stemming from the urban block: the recording studios, multi-function rooms, and back of house spaces. The abstraction houses the interstitial foyer space, sloping above the private plinth and into the kaleidoscope, the intersection of the two forms, housing the kaleidoscopic auditorium. The architecture reflects the two dominant cultures in Kreuzberg: German, and Turkish, ith contrasting forms interweaving together like a symphony. 

The blending and invitation from the external foyer to the internal foyer draws onlookers up and through the building envelope. The central circulation provides a direct link to every public facility in the theatre, creating a seamless, inviting foyer that orients visitors to the kaleidoscopic auditorium.

Mass timber provides the main structural support with timber framing being used as secondary structure for the auditorium. Timber is chosen due to its inherent inviting, yet elegant atmosphere, as well as its environmental properties. The timber structure is fixed with steel connections allowing the theatre to act as one giant truss system stemming from the conventional tenements. The truss system allows a void of light and space to be formed in the abstraction due to the perforated metal flooring.