June 25th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – Berlin, the city of cities, has a building that looks like a giant HP printer. Let’s not kid ourselves: The International Conference Center (ICC) either is the ugliest building ever built by man, or the most interesting one. It can’t be both. Or can it?
In the early 1970s, there was some kind of a race going on between West-Berlin and Hamburg. Both metropolises wanted a giant conference center. So they started building. Hamburg’s concept was a skyscraper with fascinating lines. The West-Berliners’ version actually looked similar, but they decided to lay it on the floor. Why reach the sky if you don’t have to?
Berlin won. They inaugurated their giant ICC on April 2nd, 1979. Hamburg’s CCH came in second, twelve days later, on April 14th, 1979.
Extension vs. Demolition
Let’s fast-forward by some thirty years: The Messe Berlin identified an issue. Operating the ICC cost far more than the state-owned company could ever earn by renting it out. They basically had the Chernobyl sarcophagus without the radioactive mass. Berlin was unified by the time everyone started thinking about ways to get rid of the problem.
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Even demolishing it was considered. How do you pull down a building like the ICC? Well, another fifteen years later, today, a decision was taken. The ICC stays. It might even be extended.
Since Berlin does not seem to have enough cultural venues and restaurants, that’s exactly what is supposed to be built into the ICC, along with galleries and studios for artists, as the RBB and other German media report. Opposite the entrace, a highrise might be erected. It is supposed to accommodate a hotel, apartments and offices.
The Fishheads Win
But a final decision has not been taken. The investors, namely a group of corporations, have two years to prove their concept is viable. If it is, they might go ahead and refurbish the ICC accordingly, which might take until 2033. If not, it’s back to square one.
Those hamburgers, on the other hand, are still using their CCH for conferences and trade fairs. But a few years back, they ran into issues too. When they renovated the giant building at Dammtor station, they found out it was full of contaminants. So, they had to pile up a lot of cash in order to fix the problem. In 2022, their Congress Center was reopened. In this case, the fishheads (which is how Germans call hamburgers) won.
