Humboldt University Physics Institute

The Humboldt University Physics Institute is part of the city planning of the town of Berlin and its scientific research site Adlershof. It is part of the newly planned buildings for the scientific research area of the Humboldt University.

The Humboldt University is to complete and stimulate the privately financed part of the developing technological park.
A master plan proposes a perpendicular street system for the area, which was developed without reference to the past airport site and its structural surroundings. Presently, the plastically formed building shells of the aerodynamic experimental buildings of the 1930 s dominate the area.
The building site chosen for the Physics Institute is the northern part of a street block on whose southern corner will also be build in the near future. The building integrates itself into the orthogonal system but remains at the same time a solitary body with four independent outer skins, each individually reflecting the different outside areas. Views and scenes show the internal structure and give the building a sense of transparency and plasticity. The internal separation through garden courtyards qualifies the setting, introducing autonomous botanically designed outside spaces.

The inner organization follows the principle of central development with weblike hall and room connections. These reflect the actual and possibly changing user structure of the Physics Institute. The building offers easy orientation, short distances, and different combinations of its usable spaces.
Because the site and structure of the building let not expect disturbing emissions, a one-layered building skin was planned. With the exception of the north facade, every outer part of the building got a passable facade area. These are easy-maintenance walk-ways equipped with different shading devices. All hall-ways have vegetative sun protection through overgrown steel and bamboo trellis, which are moun-ted along the walk-way of the facade. Every lounge has an outside-lying shading device. The outside walls are carried as light constructions over the supporting structure of reinforced concrete.

The building concept focuses on escorting and influencing the development at Adlershof. The area will be, in opposition to the formulated city town-planning model, uncontrollably and discontinually evolving. Because of this, the concept offers an evolvable building. In this way, the north facade will in the begginning form a build seal for the hu-ge open field of the former airport. Here, a homogenous, smooth outer skin with two sharply cut openings is planned. Even over a great distance the building contour is easy recognizable. The south side has a furlike overgrowth of ranking plants. In front of this side lies an undeveloped piece of land, which the thick plant-fur is able to define and connect to the building. East and west si-de are given a permanent, three-dimensional surrounding. They are pervious and, at the inside, build up to multiple room layers. The building concept is structurally open and enables permanent chan-ge and new orientation of the inner structure and functionability.