The building is now part of the Kulturforum of Berlin, which includes the Chamber Music Hall (Kammermusiksaal), the Berlin Museum of Musical Instruments (Musikinstrumenten-Museum) and other buildings, near the Potsdamer Platz, in the vicinity of the Neue Nationalgalerie of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin), designed by Schauroun as well.
In 1882, the first Berlin Philharmonic’s permanent home is founded in an old skating rink located in Bernburger Straße, in Berlin-Kreuzberg and in 1888, the architect Franz Heinrich Schwechten extended the concert hall. During the II World War, the old Philharmonic was destroyed in an allied air raid in the 30th of January of 1944. In the postwar period, the Berlin Philarmonic occupied some alternative places: mainly the Titania-Palast ant the church Jesus-Christus-Kirche Dahlem.
In 1956 the New Berlin Philharmonic Building was put out to tender, and 14 architects were encouraged to take part. A year later, in January of 1957, the Hans Scharoun’s project won the first prize, but due to some frictions, the plan was not executed and it was put in charge to other architect.
Owing to the panel member conceded the prize after 16 hours of deliberation, the decision lacked of the necessary three quarters majority, given that it was taken by nine votes against four. Only by Herbert von Karajan’s mediation and Hansheinz Estuco Schmidt’s appeal, one of the panel member, is why the job went to Scharoun.
The beginning of the construction was delayed again because in the public debate, the initial location was too far from the old Philharmonic. In 1959, finally, the House of Representatives of Berlin (Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin) relocated the new building in its present position. The choice of this place was a signal against the Nazism megalomania, so the site was adjacent to the National Socialist Action’s administrative building, which was seriously damaged in the air raids of 1944 and subsequently demolished.
The New Philharmonic finally surfaced as the first of the planned construction for the Kulturforum in the postwar period. It was finished in a 37 month period, from the 15th of September of 1960 and it opened its doors the 15th of October of 1963. The cost amount around to 17 million marks, about 35 million euros considering the present inflation.
This asymmetric building with a principal concert hall in a pentagon shape, offers to the audience really good positions to see the stage, owing to the irregular increase of the height of the roof in order to benefit the visualization and the perceptibility, entering a special atmosphere and more dialectics between the artists and the audience. The excellent hall acoustic makes the sound better and nearer to the spectator. It is commented that each of the instrument tones can be distinguished from any seat, near or far from the stage. The hall has 2.440 seats.
In 1987, the Chamber Music Hall “Kammermusiksaal” was opened that is based on Scharoun’s original project and has a capacity of 1.180 seats. The buildings are connected by the main lobby of the complex.
The Philharmonie was the first concert hall in placing the stage among the audience. This concept will be later acquired by many concerts halls, changing this fact into a standard. Some of the most important are: Sydney Opera House (Jørn Utzon, 1973), Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver (Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer 1978), Leipzig Gewandhaus (Rudolf Skoda y Volker Victoria, 1981), Suntory Hall, Tokyo (Shoichi Sano, 1986). In other hand, among the most important buildings recently erected that opt for the Scharoun’s standard are: Parco della Musica, Roma (Renzo Piano, 2002), Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles (Frank Gehry, 2003), DR Koncerthuset, Copenhague (Jean Nouvel, 2009), Musiikkitalo, Helsinki (Marko Kivistö, 2011), Filarmónica del Elba, Hamburgo (Herzog & de Meuron, Vorauss, 2016).
The breaking with the tradition, placing the concert hall in a central position will be interpreted by the critics as a redefinition of the social construction of the concert.
After the conflagration in the 20th of May in 2008, the building begins with a refurbishment process.
