GROSSE NIKE / BIG NIKE

Jury statement:
The new Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Centre is a conceptual urban library design with a sculptural quality, which communicates the identity of the Humboldt University Berlin as a place rich in tradition but at the same time as a modern and innovative site for teaching and research with international standing. The building emerges from its urban surroundings, and is incorporated harmoniously into the city block site. Firstly, the Grimm-Centre mirrors the relatively low height of the city block. Then, emphasised by the recessed façade, emerges not quite as a solitary building, but nevertheless as a self-assertive spatial one in the urban landscape, matching the height of Berlin’s other important public buildings.