Media Center

Jentz • Popp • Wiesner

Institute of Theater, Musical Theater and Film of the University of Hamburg
Zeise, Hamburg

completion 1992
BGF 7.500 qm


The City Within (text: Inge Maisch, from: Architecture in Hamburg, Yearbook 1993)

How much variation me di um’s architects can inject into the ‘city within a city' theme can actually be studied right next door: at the University Institute for Theater, Musical Theater and Film. The former casting-hall of the marine-screw factory  together with the Eisenstein restaurant and the Media House were restored by me di um years ago. The first user, a supermarket chain-store, quickly moved out because the lease was too high. So the factory floor was left standing vacant for years on end. New utilization seemed unlikely, as the high hall was a listed building and its interior could not be altered. Not until me di um’s idea that such a space, even when stacked full of big cartons or containers, still remains intact, proved to be the solution. Containers painted in soft reds, greens or yellows were slung from the portal-like beams, on whose rails earlier the big cranes had moved the heavy ship’s screws. Professors and assistants each have a small house of their own now, and the containers are even used as seminar rooms. Also, stages for rehearsals have been fitted into the hall, likewise film studios with sliding partition walls, providing the creative ambience for putting cinematic or theatrical ideas into practice. Diversity without exaggeration:  the vitality of the scheme will be proven by use.