Central and State Library, Berlin

Excerpt from the jury's decision: "As a long, extended structure, the library occupies the building site north of the airport in a manner which is as self-confident as it is natural. The building structure is characterized by an extremely wide-spanned concrete construction serving to divide the library into functional levels. The building lies over the parcel and generates in its interior numerous urban locales and situations. It defines the library as a place for public activities and a general meeting place for the populace extending beyond the functional importance of a municipal library. It is a megastructure which is not diminished by its proximity to the Tempelhof Airport. The jury recognizes it as an architectural manifest far exceeding the actual task at hand." The structural support is comprised of just a few main bearing components: The double-walled flanges which encompass the building and the hollow-box construction within the building which combine to form a monopod, the table. Together, these architectural features act as a tripod.