Utopia Kulturforum
The Philharmonie and the Forum
In 1982, the composer Luigi Nono was inspired by Hans Scharoun’s architecture to create a vision of the Kulturforum: In his own handwriting, he sketched the Kulturforum as a resonating space that would bring the various building structures into an overall sound. Hans Scharoun himself already had an idea for the Kulturforum as a whole: his idea for a terrace-like “guest house” (1963) for artists between the Staatsbibliothek (State Library) and St. Matthew’s Church was intended to create a prerequisite for the “urban landscape” Kulturforum and a lively and animated Kulturforum. It was not realized.
Luigi Nono, Ars Combinatoria (1982), in: “Die Berliner Philharmonie und ihr Kammermusiksaal. Der Konzertsaal als Zentralraum.” (“The Berlin Philharmonie and its Chamber Music Hall. The Concert Hall as Central Space.”) Edgar Wisniewski (ed.), Berlin 1999.
The 1964 photograph by Reinhard Friedrich shows the model of Hans Scharoun’s Kulturforum with the terraced guest house between the Staatsbibliothek (State Library) and St. Matthew’s Church.
© Berlinische Galerie