UPD 2014-27-03 The winner of the competition was announced by the OMA bureau, in whose project the jury saw "an impressive answer to the question" how we will work in the future, "opening up a completely new landscape of work and communication for future users of the building.
Axel Springer is a publishing concern that owns both the solid Die Welt and Bild, the most popular tabloid in Europe, various industry publications such as Computer Bild, as well as many popular online resources. Its Berlin headquarters was built in 1966 in the western part of the city, very close to the Berlin Wall, and now - on the remaining wasteland - it is planned to build another building.
The participants of the closed competition announced in May 2013 were given a not too detailed task: on an area of 60 thousand m2, it was required to satisfy the needs of the growing departments of the concern, paying special attention to digital services, as well as to implement new standards of the working environment. Therefore, it is surprising how similar the works of the finalists turned out to be - so much so that the jury could not immediately choose the winner, only weeding out SANAA and Kuehn Malvezzi, the unlucky participants of the 2nd stage, and postponing the final decision until next year.
OMA proposed the Digital Valley project, where the space is organized around a huge atrium, where ordinary office floors turn into interconnected terraces.
So the architects tried again, as it was before the digital era in the "newsrooms" of leading newspapers, to unite the journalists - each now buried in their own monitor. The atrium faces a glazed corner towards the old Axel Springer building. The public will have access to a lobby, a bridge to watch the publishing house and a rooftop bar.
"Three-dimensional quarter" of the workshop BIG Is a hybrid of two Berlin types of office buildings - a tower and a low-rise building with a courtyard. There, too, there is an atrium with terraces, in this case green in places.
Architects strive to stimulate communication between journalists of major publications and start-ups, celebrities and newcomers, bosses and employees. The roof garden will have an observation deck and a restaurant open to all comers.
Former partner of OMA Ole Scheren and his Büro-OS created the Cloud of Collaboration: in fact, it is another atrium with spaces for collaboration and communication. At its bottom there are public areas for exhibitions, film screenings and meetings, and the usual Berlin passage through the building connects the two squares at its facades. The roof can serve as a platform for any event; there is also an observation platform there.
