Evolution of Embassy Architecture in Berlin
L.V. Zeilinger (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
S. Tanović – Mentor (TU Delft - Teachers of Practice / A)
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Abstract
This thesis seeks to understand how the architecture of embassies has changed since the 19th century. Historically, it was not the building but the ambassador that reflected the state. With the focus moving toward permanent buildings that can undertake the vast bureaucracy of modern diplomacy, the representation of the state has moved from ambassador to building. This has brought into question how a state represents itself in a foreign nation. The focus of this question will examine the US, UK, and Dutch embassies in Berlin. Berlin has been the capital of 5 different states in the last century. With the fall of the Wall, Berlin and Germany sought to reunify themselves not only administratively but architecturally too. Perhaps for the first time, foreign nations did not look to only their own culture for inspiration but toward Berlin and its rebuild. The symbiosis of host and foreign nations is uniquely represented in the embassies of Berlin.