IBZ Berlin

Between 2010 and 2011 the building was renovated with the financial support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

The main aim of the IBZ is to promote the communication of ideas between international scientists and their German colleagues, on both, a scientific, and an artistic level.

The idea of international meeting centers for German and foreign scientists was developed in the 1950s by the Alexander von Humboldt foundation, which wanted to adapt American models of on-campus academics.

A key feature of many American models is their close proximity to the main university campuses, an idea that Berlin was yet to emulate.

Since key facilities for visiting scientists such as large meeting rooms were not available close to the university, the IBZ chose to develop the buildings in order to solve this problem.

However, on closer look, several more distinctive characteristics can be found, for example communal social rooms; these features are what make the IBZ such a unique place to live.

Steidle was praised both for the principles of his design and for his innovative view on how the historical architecture could be simultaneously preserved and updated.

The communal rooms have been recognized as being essential for such building projects, although the surface figures were exceeded at the IBZ Berlin: "Urbanity can be defined as an independent relationship and interaction between public and private spheres.

The allocation of living and developmental areas with their boundaries and transitions and their design and functional training determine the communicative character of the building.

[3] The diagonal, covered stairway plays an essential role in bringing residents together, as it connects all sections and creates communal areas of the house.

Whilst the layouts mirror American and Scandinavian models, the utilities within the apartments are more typical of those found in Berlin in the 1920s and the Berlin-Taut School.

The design of the doors and windows, the glazed vestibules and the stairs in the maisonettes are highly reminiscent of the social housing of classical modernity of the Weimar Republic, which now recognized in Berlin as a World Heritage Site.