DZ-Bank Haus, Pariser Platz

Frank Gehry
2000




The Pariser Platz facade

The building is next to the United States Embassy and across from the Brandenburg Gate. The facade is simple with a series of deeply recessed windows (with the next to the last storey sloping) and a vertical pillar effect, echoing the columns of the Brandenburg Gate. The cladding, a yellow Italian limestone, and the roof height serve as well to blend the building into the historic setting. While this is certainly an un-Gehry-like exterior, in the interior Gehry's radical architectural vision is brought into play.

 

Facade to Behrenstrasse

The Verlag Guide notes that this facade is "remarkable," "with its curving structure, loggias and floor-to-ceiling windows. The top floors are terraced as in many other new buildings and maintain the curving lines at the facade" (47).
 
 

An elegant wood-clad lobby/hallway fronts the large atrium around which offices and other spaces are located. These take advantage of the natural light from the curved glass ceiling of the atrium.
 
In the center of the atrium the sculptural form contains the building's conference hall which rest on a curving floor so that it appears to float. It is clad in stainless steel with warm wood cladding on the interior. See Thomas Mayer.archive for excellent photos of the conference hall and other interior spaces not open to the public. A cafeteria/auditorium is located below the glass floor. This detail shows a peek into the lower room.

 

The ramp which leads to the conference hall

See this news photo.




Works Consulted or Quoted:
Rainer Haubrich et al. Berlin: The Architecture Guide. Braun Publishing, 2016. (German first edition, 2001)
Michael Imhof and Leon Krempel. Berlin. New Architecture: A Guide to the new Buildings from 1989 to today. Michael Imhof Verlag, 2012.


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© 2017 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site) and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.