‘Berlin Brain’

Around Berlin


British architect Norman Foster was the brain behind the ‘Berlin Brain’, a cranial-shaped 2005 masterpiece of modern architecture that houses the Freie Universität Berlin’s Philological Library. Inside are four floors sheltered within a naturally ventilated, bubble-like enclosure draped in aluminium and glazed panels. An inner membrane of translucent glass fibre filters the daylight, while scattered transparent openings allow momentary glimpses of the sky.