The Grimm Center of the Humboldt University in Berlin is the largest free hand library in Germany. In order to mark the importance of the library in terms of urban planning, part of the building towers above the typical Berlin eaves. Like a cubic store of knowledge, the house joins the urban silhouette of the nearby Museum Island. To create an entree for the library, the fabric of the Berlin Dorotheenstadt was enriched by an outlying town square along the S-Bahn Viaduct. From the staircase-like terraces of the central reading room all 2.5 million media units can be reached: A central room that also enables decentralized work. In the humboldtian sense, knowledge areas are brought together in the library - and at the same time visitors are encouraged to literally cross the boundaries of these areas.
The Grimm Center received the BDA Architecture Prize Nike 2010 for the Best Urban Design Interpretation, the BDA Award Berlin 2009, an award at the Berlin Architecture Award 2009, the German Natural Stone Award 2011 and the International Award Architecture in Stone 20111 and the Access City Award 2013.
Information provided in part by: Max Dudler
