Polish Embassy in Berlin

Embassy buildings have a special presence in the urban landscape. Situated in prestigious locations, marked with flags of the countries they represent, those buildings are particularly subject to assessment.
The essence of the Polish embassy is the contextuality and homogeneity of the solutions adopted, combined with moderation and rationality. The building is situated in a highly prestigious and prominent location. Unter den Linden is one of the main functional axes and one of the main tourist routes in the historic part of the city, linking several Berlin’s key spaces, a place where numerous public buildings are concentrated.
The leitmotif behind the formation of the massing of the building is the relationship between its structure composed of rhythms of facades, columns, girder grids and the structure of spaces and major representative spaces.
Two “double” layers of the southern and northern facades stretched between the adjacent buildings separate the “proper”, private premises of the embassy. The layers form a deep, three-dimensional facade facing Under den Linden. Alternately set vertical elements, viewed from short distances, produce the effect of alternating transition from openwork to solid wall, depending on the vantage point from which the facade is viewed.
The internal structure of the building is defined by a system of multiple internal courtyards to which the embassy’s representative spaces open up, and by office spaces at upper floors.The proposed solutions result from an effort to achieve balance between expression and distinctiveness of the structure with a strongly defined form and its actual presence in a specific context.
The representative character should be conveyed by the quality of space, architecture and its scale. Polish identity is to be manifested mainly through sensitivity and appropriateness.