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Messe Berlin – DIA wins invited competition for constructional corporate design

»Paris in the 30's. New York in the 80's. London at the height of Britpop. BERLIN NOW« With its architectural concept for a future-oriented exhibition center, DIA – Dittel Architekten won the competition (by invitation) for the redesign of Messe Berlin. The aim is to develop a holistic architectural corporate design for the ExpoCenter City exhibition center across a total area of 500,000 m2, which features buildings from the 1920s to the 2000s and a sustainable implementation span of 15 years. With its impressive reach and innovation, the concept developed by DIA reflects the international strength of the trade-fair company in Berlin, a sophisticated European metropolis. Photo: ©Messe Berlin

Due to the long-term perspective of the project, DIA approached the task with a holistic view of a changing society and technological progress. From this, the architects derived four functions that make up a modern, successful exhibition center in its role as an attractive and innovative platform: (1) The exhibition offers exhibitors an optimal usable framework, (2) becomes a hotspot for visitors through its attractiveness and the experience it provides, (3) produces a high-quality environment for visitors as the host and (4) becomes a flagship of the city through its strong and identity-establishing effect.

With the help of these insights and on the basis of a comprehensive location analysis, DIA developed a design concept through the symbiosis of individual design features and a superordinate design language which gives all the buildings a uniform framework. On the one hand, the architects emphasize the uniqueness of the versatile buildings, some of which are under historic preservation, and thereby support the fundamental personality of Messe Berlin; on the other, recurring design measures provide orientation and guide the visitor intuitively through the world of the trade show.