Academy of Arts (Hanseatenweg)

The Akademie der Künste on Hanseatenweg stands in Berlin’s Hansaviertel, a quiet quarter beside the Großer Tiergarten. Built in 1960 for the West Berlin academy, the complex is a protected ensemble of buildings and gardens. Three sharply contrasting volumes form the core: a white cube for exhibitions, a red-brick studio with sloping copper roofs, and a five-storey block of ateliers and flats set apart. The site owes its existence to a million-dollar gift from Henry H. Reichhold, a Berlin-born industrialist living in the United States. Werner Düttmann led the design, working with architect Sabine Schumann, to create a Brutalist landmark that balanced public display with private studios. Walter Rossow shaped the surrounding gardens, planting inner courtyards and laying irregular slate paths that age with the seasons. Inside, visitors move through linked foyers and glazed corridors between the three parts. The white cube holds three exhibition halls around a planted courtyard, while the studio hosts lectures, films and a cinematheque. The five-storey building shelters guest flats, a library and offices. The whole complex still hosts exhibitions, concerts and the Junge Akademie’s international artists-in-residence programme.