German Aerospace Center :envihab

The institute works together with different medical research modules to test the effects weightlessness has on the human body.

The architects designed a reduced, abstract exterior. The :envihab appears to be a thin, flat slab that floats over the slightly raised, uniformly formed topography surrounding it. And yet, the slope extending away from the building does not appear to be artificial, but instead adjusts its form to fit the natural environment. The entrances are the only things that interrupt the slope, appearing as small incisions. The site has been seeded with a colourful flowering meadow mixture and loosely distributed groups of small-crowned ornamental shrubs.

On the inside of the building the various labs and modules are freely arranged on one floor according to a 'house within a house' principle. The long, narrow atria, which contain impressive formations of large and small boulders, lend structure to the sophisticated circulation system, as if to remind us that we are still on earth.

Client
German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Architect
Glass Kramer Loebbert Architekten with Uta Graff, Berlin

Service phases
2-8