Haus der Kulturen der Welt - Berlin, Germany - Googie Architecture on Waymarking.com

"The Haus der Kulturen der Welt ("House of the World's Cultures") in Berlin is Germany's national centre for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and societies. It presents art exhibitions, theater and dance performances, concerts, author readings, films and academic conferences on Visual Art and culture. It is one of the institutions which, due to their national and international standing and the quality of their work, receive funding from the federal government as so-called "lighthouses of culture."

The Haus der Kulturen der Welt is located in the Tiergarten park and a direct neighbour of the Carillon and the new German Chancellery. It was formerly known as the Kongresshalle conference hall, a gift from the United States, designed in 1957 by the American architect Hugh Stubbins as a part of the Interbau, an International Building Exhibition. U.S.President John F. Kennedy spoke here during his June 1963 visit to West Berlin. On May 21, 1980, the roof collapsed killing one and injuring numerous people. The hall was rebuilt in its original style and reopened in 1987 in time for the 750-year anniversary of the founding of Berlin.

Outside the entrance, Henry Moore's heaviest bronze sculpture, Large Divided Oval: Butterfly (1985–86), stands in the middle of a circular basin. Weighing nearly nine tons, it was his final major work, completed just before he died. One of three public Moore sculptures in Berlin (the others being Three Way Piece No.2: The Archer (1964–65) at the Neue Nationalgalerie and Reclining Figure (1956) at the Akademie der Künste), Butterfly was initially a loan to (then West) Berlin in 1986, but the city council wanted the sculpture permanently, and asked Moore if he would donate it. The letter arrived just before his death and went unanswered. In 1988 it was sold by the Henry Moore Foundation to Berlin for 4.5 million Deutsche Mark (around $2.58 million at the exchange rate of the day), then a huge sum for a public sculpture. The sculpture was eventually badly damaged by a combination of environmental pollution and vandalism, and restored in 2010.

Typical for Berlin popular humour, Berliners have nicknamed the building Die schwangere Auster ("The pregnant Oyster").
In 2005 the building served as an outdoor set for the science fiction action film Æon Flux."

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Type of Structure: Building Upswept Roof / Folded Plate Roof(s): no Large Dome(s): yes Large Sheet Glass Window(s): no Boomerang and/or Arrow Shape(s): no Amoebae Shape(s): yes Atomic Model(s): no Starburst(s): no Exposed Steel Beam(s): no Flying Saucer/Rocket Shape(s): yes If I knew, I'd be an architect: no Physical Address: John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10 Berlin, 10557 Web Address or URL: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/21/2023 Eibacher Kuckuck visited it 10/20/2021 CADS11 visited it 10/28/2020 penalty96 visited it 01/07/2019 kaschper69 visited it 05/27/2016 André de Montbard visited it 11/11/2013 Windschattenwanderer visited it

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