The Building Academy or Schinkel’s Bauakademie was a higher education for architects established in 1799. The iconic building was built from 1832 to 1836, but today only a corner remains and it’s not from the original construction.

The building was regarded as a pioneer of modern architecture due to its use of red bricks and streamlined facade.

It was built just across from the city palace and designed by Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

The building has housed several higher education institutions. In 1879, the Building Academy merged with the Technical University. During the Weimar Republic, it also housed the Academy for Politics.

In 1945, an air raid brought everything to a halt. The building was heavily damaged by bombings and was only partially restored by 1956. A few years later, the GDR demolished the remaining structure to make way for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The original building is gone, but a corner that resembles the Building Academy can be seen at Schinkelplatz today.

It is a reconstruction made in 2004 in remembrance of not only the building but also the pioneering Schinkel’s Bauakademie.