OMA to redesign Berlin's KaDeWe department store
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

World leading architecture practice OMA is just as known for its bold new builds, such as the nearly-complete Taipei Performing Art Centre, as it is about its well planned refurbishments and redesigns – the Wallpaper* Best Public Building award-winning Prada Foundation or the Fondaco dei Tedeschi palazzo in Venice, a highly anticipated and currently ongoing project, are prime examples.
The studio's latest addition to the category is the well known Kaufhaus des Westerns department store in Berlin, AKA KaDeWe. The much loved historic establishment – which first opened in 1907 – has been in need of 'redefining its current model', explain the architects, and renovation plans by OMA have just been unveiled.
Pioneering the early modern shopping experience and helping to define retail as we know it today, department stores all over Europe have been acting as incubators for sophisticated crafts, social exchange and challenging experimentation in services, say OMA. The new design will be able to cater for the fast-paced, latest changes in the industry and the contemporary shopper's needs.
In their design solution, OMA broke down the building in four distinct parts, which would help them make the store feel more easily accessible and navigable. Treating the large building like a mini-city with its own 'urban' fabric, they were able to introduce ways of adapting and responding to 'accelerating shifts in consumer behavior and the challenges brought by online retail that have affected the tradition department store model'.
This is the famous Dutch practice's second ongoing project in Berlin – the first one being a new building for the Axel Springer media group. Not that these represent the first time the firm has ever worked in the German capital; the Netherlands Embassy from 2003 and the Checkpoint Charlie Apartments from 1990 are among the practice's notable earlier works there.
The building, which opened in 1907, needed a strategic architectural update in order to keep up with modern retail's changing world and the needs of contemporary customers
In their new design, OMA broke down the building in four distinct parts, which would help the store become more accessible and navigable
Looking at the large building as a mini city, the architects worked on its urban fabric to adjust its functionality and user experience
One of the two ongoing projects that OMA are currently handling in Berlin, the project is now in design development
INFORMATION
For more information on OMA visit the website (opens in new tab)
Images courtesy of OMA
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).
-
The best London art exhibitions: a guide for March 2023
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions, and those around the UK in March 2023, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Harriet Lloyd Smith • Published
-
Craig Green on his ‘decorated men’ and those hand-moulded leather accessories
‘They are almost like a relic,’ says British designer Craig Green of the hand-moulded leather objects that appeared as part of his S/S 2023 collection, a musing on functionality and decoration
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Wadi AlFann, AlUla’s new land art destination, is stirring creativity in the desert
Wadi AlFann – Saudi Arabia’s Valley of the Arts – hints at the scale of its ambition with an event in the desert for curators, artists and cultural leaders ahead of the completion of its site and first five artworks
By Simon Mills • Published
-
Last days of Berlin’s Tegel Airport celebrated in new photo book
Photographer Andreas Gehrke celebrates Tegel Airport and creates an intimate portrait of the place where the passengers have departed forever
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Store concept by David Chipperfield Architects for Akris is simply ‘selbstverständlich’
An ethereal new store concept by David Chipperfield Architects for Akris is rolled out from Washington to Tokyo
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
‘Ole Scheeren: Spaces of Life’ celebrates ‘form follows fiction’ in architecture
‘Ole Scheeren: Spaces of Life’, a comprehensive look into the work of the German architect, opens at ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Rinascente is reborn in Rome’s Piazza Fiume courtesy of design studio 2050+
Rinascente in Piazza Fiume, Rome gets a makeover by Milan-based interdisciplinary design agency 2050+
By David Plaisant • Published
-
Buffalo AKG Art Museum by OMA looks to the future
The Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Art Gallery) is reborn with a striking OMA-designed extension, site-specific installations, and a new focus on the local community
By Amy Serafin • Last updated
-
Aachen’s Center for Advanced Mobility is a celebration of technical innovation
Studio MDA's Center for Advanced Mobility in Aachen, Germany celebrates technical innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration
By Pei-Ru Keh • Last updated
-
Playfully transparent roof defines German Glass House escape
The Glass House by Sigurd Larsen, set amid nature outside Berlin, is an unconventional country home with a distinctive transparent roof
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
The iconic BMW HQ in Munich celebrates its half century
Karl Schwanzer designed a corporate icon for BMW. Now 50 years old, the company’s Munich HQ is still going strong
By Jonathan Bell • Last updated