Barenboim-Said-Akademie, Berlin

This build­ing is a master of cam­ou­flage. Hidden dis­creetly behind the Berlin State Opera two rows back, it matches the opera house with its pared-down, clas­si­cal ex­te­rior. The build­ing of the newly opened Baren­boim-Said Akademie is ac­tu­ally a re­con­struc­tion by Richard Paulick from the 1950s, despite its rus­ti­cated masonry, frieze and parapet. And the outside gives no obvious hint at the fact that inside hides a strik­ing concert hall by Frank Gehry and at least parts of a his­toric steel con­struc­tion.

The Baren­boim-Said Akademie is an in­sti­tute of higher learn­ing for young mu­si­cians from the Middle East, founded in 2012 by the general music di­rec­tor of the Berlin State Opera, Daniel Baren­boim. With the academy, Baren­boim wants to raise the work of the West-East­ern Divan Or­ches­tra, which he and Pales­tin­ian Amer­i­can pro­fes­sor of lit­er­a­ture Edward W. Said (who has since passed away) founded to the next level, thanks to funding by the German gov­ern­ment and promi­nent patrons.

Star ar­chi­tect Frank Gehry gifted his design for the oval, wooden-clad concert hall of the academy. The Pierre Boulez Hall was a gift not just to the academy but also to the city of Berlin, another high-cal­i­bre venue for the capital.

Vis­i­tors enter the build­ing through a new main en­trance on the south­ern side. Behind that is the foyer, which stretches to the full height of the build­ing. It is far dif­fer­ent from both the clas­si­cal ex­te­rior and the modern concert hall. It can be seen from the large space that the build­ing was orig­i­nally a satel­lite of the State Opera: high above in the room looms the steel struc­ture used in earlier days to move and store the stage scenery. A sky­light pro­vides natural day­light. Ar­chi­tec­tural firm HG Merz to­gether with BAL Berlin is re­spon­si­ble for the ren­o­va­tion. Another firm from Berlin, rw+, ex­e­cuted the plans. In ad­di­tion to the concert hall, the build­ing now houses offices, prac­tice room for stu­dents, a library and an au­di­to­rium.

The total cost of the ren­o­va­tion was around 32 million euros, of which ten million was fi­nanced through do­na­tions. The foyer con­nects to the eastern wing of the Pierre Boulez Hall and the western wing of the academy with its new steps, gal­leries and vestibules. While Gehry’s hall exudes el­e­gance and expense, the ar­chi­tects from HG Merz prefer to start with the un­fin­ished, almost in­dus­trial aes­thet­ics of the stage scenery store­room when it come to the academy rooms.

Exposed in­stal­la­tions running under the ceil­ings and simple drywall struc­tures create a work­shop-like char­ac­ter and the orange rubber floor­ing gives a pop of colour.

The flush-fit­ted version of Christoph Mäckler’s FSB 1043 door handle in a stain­less steel finish ensures quality even in the details. Despite all of its cam­ou­flage, the new academy has nothing to hide.