Bauakademie

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"Bauakademie", Painting by Eduard Gaertner, 1868

Reconstruction in 2005

The Bauakademie (English Building Academy) in Berlin, Germany, built between 1832 and 1836, is considered one of the forerunners of modern architecture due to its theretofore uncommon use of red brick and the relatively streamlined facade of the building.

Designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the Bauakademie was built near the Berliner Stadtschloss (Berlin City Palace) to house institutions such as the Oberbaudeputation, the Higher Council of Architecture, and the Königliche Technische Hochschule, the technical royal faculty, which will give birth in 1879 to the Technische Universität.

Damaged during World War II, the Bauakademie was then partially restored, but in 1962 the building was demolished to make room for the future Minister of Foreign Affairs of East Germany.

In 1995, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of East Germany was demolished in order to recreate the Werderscher Markt area. Since then, proposals are being discussed with city and Federal authorities to rebuild Schinkel's Bauakademie. The Werderscher Markt area has already been partially recreated by the Bertelsmann-funded reconstruction of the Alte Kommandantur. As for the Bauakademie, between 2000 and 2001 students erected a temporary structure to give an impression of the volume and form of the building. Current proposals under consideration intend to use a reconstructed Bauakademie to accommodate an architecture museum as well as a Mercedes-Benz research institute about the future of automobile.

The cost of the project is estimated at 51 million euros.