Steidle + Partner, Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Bremerhaven: Opus 60

The new building for the Alfred-Wegener-Institut fur Polar und Meeresforschung, named after Alfred Wegener, the famous geo-scientific pioneer, is near the city centre by the commercial harbor, not far from warehouses and other industrial buildings. What is striking is the unusual facade: a pattern is made with glazed tiles in white, grey and black, seeming more regular than it actually is. The architects—pictorially speaking—have set up poles at the corners of the plot and stretched fabric between them.