Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, Berlin
Photos by Dieter Janssen
On the site of the ruins of the former church and namesake in central West Berlin, would emerge the winning proposal of a 1957 competition for a new church to be designed by Egon Eiermann. A set of simple geometric forms set on a raised plinth shared with the remains of the original bell tower set this modern project apart form the immediate streetscape, even as the new figures define their context.
The main octagonal chapel is set apart from the new hexagonal bell tower, though both share a unique concrete gridded shell envelope with cells filled by solid blue glass chunks. This material articulation transforms the building at night from its opaque mystery to a glowing blue lantern.
