BRAIN RESEARCH CENTER

Dessau International School of Architecture | DIA
Spring 2013 | Berlin, Germany
critic Arie Graafland

The challenge is to design the Brain Research Center in such a way that it provides an innovative and inspiring environment for researchers, which will improve teamwork and foster communication between researchers and the public.

The main concept of the center is based on the idea of the noosphere, which, according to Vladimir Vernadsky and Teilhard de Chardin, denotes the "sphere of human thought". The noosphere is the third in a succession of phases of the development of the Earth, after the geosphere and the biosphere. Just as the emergence of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human cognition fundamentally transforms the biosphere. The noosphere emerges through and is constituted by the interaction of human minds. /Wikipedia/

By creating a space that is a visual representation of the noosphere, the aim is to promote the creative interaction of human minds and encourage scientific discoveries. 

The building is detached from the ground and floats above the campus to open up vision and movement. Only pillars and elements of circulation are touching the ground. The terrain is free for green and informal meeting spaces. In some parts the terrain is opened to the underground spaces, where are located open-air green spaces and an amphitheater for open-air meetings. There are three underground floors with workshop spaces, laboratories, and parking. Above the ground there are thirteen floors with laboratory spaces, formal and informal meeting spaces, an exhibition hall, a library, and conference and workshop spaces. 
The volume of the building wrapped into a steel space frame, which represents the “Noosphere” floating over the campus.