Berlin | Brutalist Architecture: Bunker? Church? Art Center?

I’ve had KÖNIG Gallery on my map for a long time, but after a disappointing experience at the Jewish Museum 👎, I decided to make a quick visit. As a building, its former cubic bell tower shape is recognizable from a distance. The exterior walls still bear the marks of St. Agnes Church, with large amounts of concrete forming this iconic structure. Upon entering, you pass through the reception and the bookstore to reach the gallery space. At first, I found the space a bit cramped, but the building’s design, with its gaps and skylights, allows natural light to filter in, adding a sense of softness. 🌟 However, when I ascended the dimly lit staircase to the second floor, I was struck by the deceptive nature of the space design. The towering, bright hall immediately impacts all visitors. Bosco Sodi’s work, *Mon Père*, is displayed in the middle of the hall, with green canvases surrounding a centuries-old olive tree. These greens give the otherwise empty and silent space another kind of atmosphere. The aesthetics of nature and life are rooted in this concrete domain, coexisting harmoniously and calling for the audience’s resonance. 🌿 This art center, originally a Catholic church from the 1960s, was redesigned by architects Werner Düttmann and Arno Brandlhuber. It now houses KÖNIG Gallery and the Berlin campus of New York University. #Germany #Berlin #ArchitecturalAesthetics #ArchitecturalPhotography #Brutalism #Art #BoscoSodi #BrutalistStyle #LookUpAtArt