New Philological Library Freie Universität

The university library of Berlin's Freie Universität, with its 8.5 million volumes and 20,000 different types of journals, is among the largest university libraries in Germany. However, the entire massive database has been fragmented into 71 specialized branches. Currently, the situation is being resolved at some faculties by merging. A similar path was taken by the philological library, which acquired a new central library in the fall of 2005, termed "the Brain" by its architect. This name was not only due to the accumulated information inside but primarily because of its external form resembling a skull and undulating floors akin to the anatomy of the human brain.
As is customary with Foster's buildings, the unusual form was not the only architectural contribution. The architect also places equal importance on the ecological and operational aspects of his buildings. In the reconstruction of the revolutionary steel structure from 1973 by architects Georgis Candilis, Alexis Josic, Shadrach Woods, and Manfred Schiedhel, he had to deal with a completely rusted shell, beams, and remove 6,000 cubic meters of asbestos. The remediation alone cost 57 million euros. Due to the library, several internal wings were demolished, and eleven specialized branches relocated into it. The rusted sheets of the outer shell were replaced with bronze panels. The details of the historical building were altered only in minor ways, and the internal arrangement was preserved as much as possible. It could be said with exaggeration that only the walls were painted and new carpets laid.
The "Brain" of the university consists of two layers, which allow for pleasantly diffused light inside. The inner wall is covered with white fiberglass fabric, and the outer consists of cladding made of silver-painted recycled aluminum and window bands. The load-bearing structure for both of these layers is made up of slender yellow-painted steel rods. The only colorful "outburst" occurs at the sharply yellow entrance to the library. The rest is immersed in a calm combination of white and bluish-gray. Although a large area of the library's outer shell consists of windows, only from a few places (out of a total of 636) can one actually see the outside nature or catch a glimpse of the sky. The "Brain" is a place for intense contemplation, where the outside world will not distract you.