Berlin Canadian Embassy
1998
Berlin, -, Germany- Public building
- Building
- Embassy
This competition was launched by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Commerce for the construction of a Canadian embassy in Berlin. The proposed building was to be situated at the limit of the former Berlin Wall in the Leipziger Platz. The site, having a rather particular configuration, meant that competitors would need to demonstrate creativity in their architectural strategy.
The new embassy was to accommodate the embassy itself, commercial units as well as staff housing. The building was also to offer certain flexibility in order to permit possible modifications within its internal organization. Candidates were to submit a proposal exploiting a vocabulary of primarily Canadian materials such as stone and wood. “The challenge for the building is to express the international associations, national aspirations and cultural characteristics through the architectural language of built-form.” (From Competitions, spring 1999, p.36)
This competition ended in a controversial decision by Ottawa concerning the winning team of the final phase. In October of 1998, five months after the expected date for the announcement of the competition's final results, the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Commerce announced that the team consisting of Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects / Architectes Gagnon, Letellier, Cyr / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers Inc. was selected for the project's construction. This announcement however, meant that Ottawa was disregarding the jury's final recommendation of the team composed of Saucier Perrotte architectes / Dunlop Farrow Architects Inc. (see A Berlin Chronicle par Adele Weder published in Canadian Architect 1999, vol. 44, no. 6.)
The new embassy was to accommodate the embassy itself, commercial units as well as staff housing. The building was also to offer certain flexibility in order to permit possible modifications within its internal organization. Candidates were to submit a proposal exploiting a vocabulary of primarily Canadian materials such as stone and wood. “The challenge for the building is to express the international associations, national aspirations and cultural characteristics through the architectural language of built-form.” (From Competitions, spring 1999, p.36)
This competition ended in a controversial decision by Ottawa concerning the winning team of the final phase. In October of 1998, five months after the expected date for the announcement of the competition's final results, the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Commerce announced that the team consisting of Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects / Architectes Gagnon, Letellier, Cyr / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers Inc. was selected for the project's construction. This announcement however, meant that Ottawa was disregarding the jury's final recommendation of the team composed of Saucier Perrotte architectes / Dunlop Farrow Architects Inc. (see A Berlin Chronicle par Adele Weder published in Canadian Architect 1999, vol. 44, no. 6.)