Philological Library of the Free University of Berlin

The Philological Library ( German: Philologische Bibliothek ) is a scientific library of the Free University of Berlin . The library building is located in the Berlin administrative district of Dahlem . The design of the library was developed by the English architect Norman Foster .

Philological Library of the Free University of Berlin Philologische Bibliothek der Freien Universität Berlin
Library entry
A country
Address	Germany , Berlin
Founded by	2005
Web site	fu-berlin.de/bibliothek/philbib

The building of the new philological library of the Free University of Berlin, opened in September 2005, is called in the German press "futuristic past" or, given its architecture, a "library shell". The building was designed by Sir Norman Foster, an English architect who is also the author of the famous Berlin without the Reichstag project.

The Free University of Berlin is one of the leading places in the system of educational institutions of the city. Currently, 35,000 students study there. The main building of the university was opened in 1973. According to contemporaries, its architecture and layout met the requirements of that time. It housed classrooms, office space for teachers, a library with reading rooms. By 2000, there was a need for a major overhaul of the university building. So that repair work does not interfere with the educational process, the university leadership decided to pre-build a new building for the library, in which a large number of students will be able to study.

In 2003, the original project of Sir Foster won the competition for projects on the reconstruction of the university building and the construction of a new library. He called the future library The Berlin Brain. The curved galleries and stairs of the building really resemble the convolutions of the brain.