ARCHITECTURE, MEMORY AND INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY: THE ROLE OF THE 1963, 1999, 2019 COMPETITIONS SHAPED THE STAATSBIBLIOTHEK ZU BERLIN

This paper explores the role of three architectural competitions (in 1963, 1999, and currently in 2019) in the development of the political, spatial, and symbolic identity of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. By analyzing the case of the two buildings of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Haus Potsdamer Straße in former West Berlin, as well as Haus Unter den Linden in the East, it provides insights into the three architectural competitions as instruments of cultural definition in the history of this important German cultural institution. The first competition in 1963 represented the democratic ideals of West Berlin in the Cold War period, while the competition of 1999 reinterpreted the Imperial, as well as the Socialist, aspects of the East in the context of reunification, and the current competition in 2019 deals with issues of accessibility, modernization, as well as the management of Scharoun's architectural heritage. The conclusion drawn from this research highlights the importance of the three architectural competitions as cultural acts of definition, in which the Stabi continues to be defined as a cultural idea.