There’s no missing that yellow. A lemonish hue pervades the lounge spaces of two new dormitories at Bard College Berlin’s campus, applied to back walls and a coffee bar. Framed by green trim, the tint brightens up the rooms (which double as co-working areas), though it is far from the only chromatic flourish. Coral red seating—custom-designed by the building architects, the New York–based firm Civilian, and recalling the planar geometries of Gerrit Rietveld—adds a slightly earthy contrast. Turquoise curtains and plush light-blue lounge chairs with orange steel frames, also by Civilian, round out the color palette.
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The architects have cited Berlin’s modernist tradition, particularly its varied manifestations in the leafy Pankow neighborhood, as inspiration. The well-handled brick exteriors of the five-story buildings, one clay red and the other creamy white, have a certain Expressionist character. Inside, every one of the 39 apartment units is outfitted with plywood flatpack furniture that evokes Donald Judd’s minimalist furnishings.
But it’s the ground-floor spaces that call the most attention to themselves. Linked by a grassy courtyard, the halls provide a tranquil yet stimulating environment for busy students. The coloration betrays the influence of Bruno Taut, another Berlin architect with a fine eye for mixing and matching. In particular, the lemon-and-lime combination flirts with a later time—chiefly, the Pantonesque reveries of the late 1960s and early ’70s. It’s a bit of the Amalfi coast by way of Fanta.
The interiors of two new dormitories at Bard College Berlin demonstrate how much can be done with so little. (Robert Rieger)