Built in 1954 by Paul Baumgarten, the ‘Concert Hall of the University of Music and Performing Arts’ is now considered one of the key buildings of the early 1950s and a prelude to modernism in post-war Berlin. In the style of 1950s architecture, Baumgarten built a concert hall with an adjoining foyer that opens out onto Hardenbergstraße with its large transparent façade. In the 1960s, the concert hall was the home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Herbert von Karajan.
In order to allow the free and open atmosphere of the foyer to be experienced again, subsequent installations were dismantled and all temporary furnishings removed as part of the redesign. The foyer on the ground floor was remodelled and redesigned to improve the quality of stay and functional processes. A new 15 metre long counter made of architectural bronze welcomes and entertains visitors to the concert hall during concert breaks. A new ticket office is being developed from the structure of the existing vestibule. The new concept complements Paul Baumgarten's open, transparent architecture of the 1950s in a contemporary way.
