Open space design around the Humboldt Forum Berlin | D

The reconstruction of the Stadtschloss closes a central gap in Berlin's historic city centre. The solitary building, which is to create space for art, science and communication as the Humboldt Forum, fundamentally changes the spatial structure in this area of the city. In place of today's spacious Schlossplatz with its unclear spatial boundaries, four clearly defined partial squares with different orientations and urban spatial references will be created on the facades of the Humboldt Forum.
The spatial configuration of historical eras will be taken up and interpreted in a contemporary manner. Thus, historical spatial boundaries at the Liebknecht Bridge and the Schleusen Bridge as well as to Breite Straße are restored. The spatial configuration of the palace terraces establishes a connection to the Lustgarten, while the design of the palace square on the southern side of the Humboldt Forum picks up on the historical linear division of the square. The little lock garden next to the Unity Monument finds its counterpart in the newly interpreted little Spree garden on the east side of the Humboldt Forum.

As with the redesign of the Lustgarten, this creates an attractive contemporary design for the new palace surroundings that picks up on historical references, makes them legible again and meets today's usage requirements.
The contemporary interpretation of the palace terraces on the northern façade of the Humboldt Forum forms a spatially vegetative connecting element to the Lustgarten.
Framed with wide granite walls, the terraces rise up to 180 cm above the level of the square and offer a prominent green place to stay with a view over the square, Unter den Linden and the Lustgarten with the cathedral and the Altes Museum.
On the terraces themselves, a novel, atmospheric planting pattern with a far-reaching reference to the site is created, which allows the research and work of Alexander von Humboldt to be experienced in the form of repeating vegetation tableaux.
Alexander von Humboldt's understanding of nature as a living whole was shaped during his five-year journey through South America. His ascent of Chimborazo is considered a key experience for the later 'Nature Painting, which shows Chimborazo in cross-section and in the view nature as a web in which everything is connected. During his extensive travels on the European, American and Asian continents, Alexander von Humboldt was one of the first to describe the large-scale interrelationships of plants, climate and rocks as well as the human influence on his environment.
The knowledge of Humboldt's extensive and impressive oeuvre, the global and figurative approach of his investigations are reflected in the newly designed terraces in front of the reconstructed palace building in the centre of Berlin: the Schloss(Humboldt)terraces.