OMA's proposal for the new Axel Springer HQ in Berlin

Multimedia group Axel Springer announced earlier today that BIG, OMA, and Buro-OS are the top three finalists for their new Media Center headquarters in Berlin. Final rankings are expected next month.

All winning entries will be publicly displayed in the "A call for ideas - the new Axel Springer Campus in Berlin" exhibition at the German Architecture Centre (DAZ) in Berlin from Dec. 17 - Dec. 22.

Here's a look at OMA's proposal.

Project description:

"Springer has launched a corporate move from 'print' to 'digital media' – in which our building will act both as a symbol and a tool [...] The genius of print is that it is a cheap, physical, hyper-accessible embodiment of a complex collective effort, for which so far the digital has been unable to find an equivalent. Architectural offices are similar to newspapers in that they produce complex assemblies and selections from radically different sources of information."

 

"As architects, we have experienced the advantages: speed, precision, smoothness. But we have also suffered one crucial consequence: the relationship between the worker and his computer, which isolates him in a bubble of introverted performance, inaccessible to collective overview.

We therefore propose a building that lavishly broadcasts the work of individuals for shared analysis."

"The new office block is injected with a central atrium that opens up to the existing Springer buildings – a new center of the Springer campus."

The public can experience the building on three levels – ground floor lobby, meeting bridge, and roof-top bar. The meeting bridge is a viewing platform from which the visitors can witness the daily functioning of the company and how it evolves."

"The essence of our proposal is a series of terraced floors that together form a digital valley. Each floor contains a covered part as a traditional work environment, which is then uncovered on the terraces. Halfway through the building, the valley is mirrored to generate a three dimensional canopy."

"The common space formed by the interconnected terraces offers an alternative to the formal office space in the solid part of the building, allowing for an unprecedented expansion of the vocabulary of workspaces: a building that can absorb all the question marks of the digital future."

Images courtesy of OMA.