‘welt spiegel’ renovation by alexander fehre, cottbus, germany   image © zooey braun

 

 

on a rounded street corner in a university town southeast of berlin sits the second-oldest operating cinema in germany. dubbed the ‘world mirror’, the historic movie house was an apartment building in 1907 until local architect paul thiel’s conversion design was realized posthumously. after world war II, the facade was restored and anamorphic widescreen playbacks were installed stage-side; it was one of the few remaining ‘kinozweckbauten’, movie theaters, to emerge relatively unscathed from the german reich cities. centered around preservation of a monumental gold ceiling, stuttgart-based designer alexander fehre has given the space a new life with dramatic, curved interiors and linear patterns of LED lights. the single-hall 520-seat cinema now boasts 2 more annexed sleek screens with 80 seats each.

 

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 2renovated main hall image © zooey braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 3the golden ceiling in the great hallimage © zooey braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 4image © Zooey Braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 5functional utilities are integrated into the design image © zooey braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 6entrance hall with ceiling projection and 3d carpet print image © Zooey Braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 7the new staircase connects the old building with the new anneximage © zooey braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 8the “black box” is one of the 2 new cinema halls image © zooey braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 9special polygonal shape delineated by led contours image © zooey braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 10a second new projection room contains an oculus image © zooey braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 11the projector beams through the round opening image © zooey braun

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 12circular shape motifs remain consistentimage © zooey braun

 

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 13

night viewimage © zooey braun

 

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 14

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 15

floor plan level 0

 

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 16

floor plan level 1

 

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 17

floor plan level 3

 

 

century old weltspiegel theater in cottbus is renovated by alexander fehre - 18

floor plan mezzanine level 4

 

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