Pop, Politics, and Propaganda

Book excerpt: Millions of Berliners gained access to information in its library and at screenings of films. Robert Kennedy and Willy Brandt came to visit. It was attacked with eggs and Molotov cocktails, and it was protected by barbed wire. Lyonel Feininger, Robert Rauschenberg, and exhibited their works here-in the course of the last fifty years, the Amerika Haus in Berlin has time and again been the focal point of cultural and political discussions and international controversies. In addition, it is an architectural gem. Built in 1956-57 by Bruno Grimmek, the delicate, open structure is based on the concept of the "idea of space"--A fluid space that is borne by a transparent exterior membrane. Beginning in fall 2014, the building will be the new home of C/O Berlin. On this occasion, the book traces the checkered history of the Amerika Haus-supplemented by interviews with contemporary witnesses such as Otto Schily, John Kornblum, and Astrid Proll as well as photographic documentation and reflections by Jörg Sasse and Michael Disqué.