Italian architect fends off Berlin criticism

Europe News

Aug 27, 2009, 14:44 GMT

Berlin - Franco Stella, the Italian architect who has been fending off criticism of his scheme to rebuild Prussia's old royal palace in Berlin, said Thursday he held full authority over the project supervisors. Two big German architecture firms, Gerkan, Marg und Partner of Hamburg and Hilmar & Sattler und Albrecht, have been engaged to do detailed planning and oversee building of the 552-million-euro (789-million-dollar) replica. Stella won a competition to design an outwardly exact copy of the vanished town palace, with a library and university teaching space inside. Critics questioned whether Stella was suitable to manage the huge project. The Berlin law practice representing Stella said the Italian retained the 'architectural authority,' but had subcontracted a major part of the work to the two German practices. The statement denied they had been directly engaged by the German authorities who have commissioned the project. 'Professor Franco Stella himself decided to contact the partner practices,' the statement said. Angry rival architects have said there should have been a tendering procedure to choose Stella's helpers. To be named the Humboldt Forum, the old-new baroque palace is to be built between 2010 and 2013. Some architects have also slammed the plan itself, saying the building should have been adapted to modern times.

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