Key Details:
* Style: High-tech
* Address: Messedamm 22, 14055 Berlin, Germany
* Built: Started in 1975
* Opened: 1979
* Closed: 2014
* Height: 40 meters (130 feet)
* Materials: Concrete, steel, glass
* Project cost: €1 billion
* Architects: Ursulina Schüler-Witte and Ralf Schüler
The ICC Berlin was one of Germany's biggest meeting places. It could hold large international meetings, plays, and concerts. It was in the Westend area of Berlin, next to the Messe Berlin fairgrounds. They often worked together for big events, making Berlin a key city for international meetings. The Berlin Messe Nord/ICC S-Bahn station was nearby, making it easy to get there.
This building could hold 14,500 people in its 80 rooms. It has been closed since April 2014.
Before 1979, the main meeting hall in Berlin was the Schwangere Auster (now Haus der Kulturen der Welt). It could only hold 1,200 people, which was not enough as Berlin became more important for trade shows. So, a contest was held to design and build a bigger hall on the fairgrounds.
The winning design was by Ursulina Schüler-Witte and Ralf Schüler in 1965. They planned a new kind of building. But building it was delayed for ten years, starting in 1975.
During planning and building, many changes were made. It started as a simple hall but became Berlin's biggest and most expensive building project since World War II.
It finally opened in 1979, three years after the Palace of the Republic in East Berlin. The ICC Berlin quickly became Europe's largest conference center.
Its inside and outside design was new for its time. It was built on a traffic island between a highway and two streets. The architects thought of it like a ship with many levels. The glass outside looks like a ship's bridge.
Inside, the ICC had two large halls and about 80 smaller rooms and supply areas on different floors, some underground. The building had special features to block sound and shaking, making it comfortable for big groups. It could hold over 20,000 people.
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