#kochstrasse

“Block 10″ Residential Building, Wilhelmstrasse 36-38 / Kochstrasse 1-4, Berlin, Germany [1981-1988] _ Architect: Aldo Rossi _ Photos by Spyros Kaprinis [27.01.2023].

“As part of the IBA 87 (International Building Exhibition) in Berlin, the Italian architect Aldo Rossi was given the opportunity to design a large residential and commercial building. The building is located in Block 10 in the southern Friedrichstadt. This large town block is bounded by Friedrichstrasse, Kochstrasse, Wilhelmstrasse and Puttkamerstrasse. At a short distance from the Berlin Wall, this block had been left incomplete in the 1970s, and only a few buildings were constructed in the interior of the block. As in the case of other interventions in southern Friedrichstadt, the restoration of the historical structure was an important goal also for the project by Aldo Rossi. It was requested to preserve the continuity of the street front, while at the same time architectural diversity had to be offerd with this residential construction. The materialization was chosen with regard to the Berlin building tradition of the nineteenth century. The red clinker façade is structured by the stripes of yellow clinker and the green window lintels. The staircases are visible from the exterior, appearing as incisions in the façade, covered with green metal panels. The white windows are square, and are divided by rungs into smaller squares. Extensive façade glazing has been installed on the Wilhelmstrasse for soundproofing. The building corner is dominated by an oversized column, acting as a space sculpture. With this geometrically rigorous design, Aldo Rossi has realized an extremely appealing building. In the courtyard of the block, various areas of use and play as well as tenant gardens were created.”