Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Center
Central Library of Humboldt University in Berlin
In October 2009, after more than 180 years of provisional status, Humboldt University was able to move its libraries to a central building located by the railway viaduct not far from Berlin's Friedrichstrasse. The resulting form of the new library is based on the winning project by Max Dudler from September 2004. With German precision, both the timeline and the construction budget were adhered to. The library, with 2.5 million volumes, offers a total of 1250 workspaces (500 of which are equipped with computers) divided into terraces across four floors. However, the most beautiful views of the city are offered from the study areas along the southern facade.
Dudler's strict design, with its regularly segmented facade and clear rectangular shape, draws on the formal language of classical modernism. The ceremonial and austere outward appearance is followed inside by the captivating atmosphere of the main reading room. In financing the library, the university had to rely on its own resources and thus had to forgo support from the federal state and the senate. On the other hand, no one else interfered with the project, and it was confirmed that quality architecture does not depend on the volume of finances but rather on a good concept and mutual understanding between the architect and the client.
The design of the Jakob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Center is the responsibility of architect Max Dudler, whose architecture is influenced by formal strictness that comes from the geometric language of classical modernism, without merely copying it. This creates from the project, which succeeded in a highly competitive competition, an impression of being classic and timeless. A suitable comparison is made with Friedrich Schinkel's 1833 drawing of the library in the university garden. The regular arrangement of the facade and the clear rectangular shape radiate the same strictness as Dudler's project, which is also influenced by the functionalist concept of architecture of Ludwig Leo and the strict geometric grid of Oswald Matthias Ungers. The successful embodiment of the proportions of large rooms also reminds one of their architecture. The entrance area of the library is one of the outstanding examples of such spaces. It opens to all through three simple entrances. The exhibition area, café, and auditorium become part of the public space permeating the library. One can easily imagine the concept of a university library as a publicly accessible library, but also recognize the importance of the university as one of the shaping parts of urban space.
The interior space unfolds into a bustling, communicative, and vibrant atmosphere on the ground floor, through technologically dominated computer and multimedia areas on the first above-ground floor, to quieter and concentrated working zones on the 2nd to 5th floors, which form the majority of freely accessible collections located in close proximity to the reading rooms. Particularly valuable is the separation of individual floors after the 1990s, when many large-space libraries faced significant acoustic climate issues. Only the large hall with terrace reading rooms illuminated by a glass roof visually connects the individual levels of the five height levels without creating significant traffic. The hall, forming a calm center of the library, is perfectly insulated due to glass panels and wooden acoustic panels. Separate study rooms and group rooms located on all floors are situated behind glass panels. The spatial arrangement created here invites concentrated work and is additionally expanded by formal and informal communication spaces for training, group work, and freely usable areas within the library.
The foundation of the building consists of shelves, which create a clear grid. Special attention was given to symmetry, which in the design phase does not always allow for spatial and functional diversity. Ultimately, aesthetically demanding and functionally clearly defined spaces were created that do not deny their identity in retrospect.
Dudler's strict design, with its regularly segmented facade and clear rectangular shape, draws on the formal language of classical modernism. The ceremonial and austere outward appearance is followed inside by the captivating atmosphere of the main reading room. In financing the library, the university had to rely on its own resources and thus had to forgo support from the federal state and the senate. On the other hand, no one else interfered with the project, and it was confirmed that quality architecture does not depend on the volume of finances but rather on a good concept and mutual understanding between the architect and the client.
The design of the Jakob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Center is the responsibility of architect Max Dudler, whose architecture is influenced by formal strictness that comes from the geometric language of classical modernism, without merely copying it. This creates from the project, which succeeded in a highly competitive competition, an impression of being classic and timeless. A suitable comparison is made with Friedrich Schinkel's 1833 drawing of the library in the university garden. The regular arrangement of the facade and the clear rectangular shape radiate the same strictness as Dudler's project, which is also influenced by the functionalist concept of architecture of Ludwig Leo and the strict geometric grid of Oswald Matthias Ungers. The successful embodiment of the proportions of large rooms also reminds one of their architecture. The entrance area of the library is one of the outstanding examples of such spaces. It opens to all through three simple entrances. The exhibition area, café, and auditorium become part of the public space permeating the library. One can easily imagine the concept of a university library as a publicly accessible library, but also recognize the importance of the university as one of the shaping parts of urban space.
The interior space unfolds into a bustling, communicative, and vibrant atmosphere on the ground floor, through technologically dominated computer and multimedia areas on the first above-ground floor, to quieter and concentrated working zones on the 2nd to 5th floors, which form the majority of freely accessible collections located in close proximity to the reading rooms. Particularly valuable is the separation of individual floors after the 1990s, when many large-space libraries faced significant acoustic climate issues. Only the large hall with terrace reading rooms illuminated by a glass roof visually connects the individual levels of the five height levels without creating significant traffic. The hall, forming a calm center of the library, is perfectly insulated due to glass panels and wooden acoustic panels. Separate study rooms and group rooms located on all floors are situated behind glass panels. The spatial arrangement created here invites concentrated work and is additionally expanded by formal and informal communication spaces for training, group work, and freely usable areas within the library.
The foundation of the building consists of shelves, which create a clear grid. Special attention was given to symmetry, which in the design phase does not always allow for spatial and functional diversity. Ultimately, aesthetically demanding and functionally clearly defined spaces were created that do not deny their identity in retrospect.
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