Approach
In 1993, Frank Barkow and Regine Leibinger founded their American-German practice which has grown into a team of 70+ architects, model builders and support staff. Active internationally, the roots of the firm go back to building for industry, companies whose technologies drove an interest in evolving technologies and craft.
The interface between practice, research and teaching characterizes the practice approach. A focus on materiality and how they are transformed by digital and analogue tools and technologies, underscores much of the experimentation in the practice. This research then informs the design and construction of building elements for ongoing projects. A particular focus has been on prefabrication, in concrete (gradient or lightweight), timber, and ceramic elements.
The spectrum of Barkow Leibinger’s work is multi-scaled: from master planning, urban high-rises, office and industrial buildings to residential, installation and prototypical exhibition pavilions. They are currently building the Estrel Tower, a 522 room hotel which will be the tallest building in Berlin. A live/ work complex is also under construction in the Kurfürstenstraße, Berin. Other milestones are “Tour Total” in Berlin and the Trutec Building in Seoul, Korea, as well as, the Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin, the Serpentine Summer House in London, the Trumpf Smart Factory in Chicago and the Harvard ArtLab in Cambridge. Most recently completed is the office building B:HUB in Berlin, the Sid Richardson and Haszen Residential Colleges at Rice University in Houston and the Smart Factory for TRUMPF in Gödöllö, Hungary.
The work of the firm has been featured in several exhibitions, with a retrospective at the Haus am Waldsee, Berlin 2020, including (among others) at the Architectural Association in London, the 2008 and 2014 Venice Architecture Biennials, the 2012 Marrakech Biennial, the 2017 and 2023 Chicago Architecture Biennials.
In 2007, Barkow Leibinger’s work was awarded the Marcus Prize for Architecture. They have received the DAM Prize for Architecture in Germany in 2009 and several Honor Awards for Architecture from the American Institute of Architects. The “Smart Material House” in Hamburg received the Holcim Global Innovation Prize in 2012.
Partners
Frank Barkow
ArrowVisiting Professor, Montana State University, School of Architecture, Bozeman, USA
Gensler Visiting Critic, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Ithaca, USA
Visiting Professor, Princeton University, School of Architecture, Princeton, USA
Visiting Professor, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, USA
Visiting Professor, Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom
Visiting Professor, EPFL École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Visiting Professor, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, School of Architecture & Urban Planning, USA
Visiting Professor, Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design, Germany
Cass Gilbert Visiting Professor, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
The Arthur Gensler Visiting Professor of Architecture, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Ithaca, USA
Unit Master at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, United Kingdom
Founding of Barkow Leibinger in Berlin together with Regine Leibinger
Visiting Critic, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA and Rome, Italy
Master of Architecture, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, USA
Bachelor of Architecture, Montana State University, Bozeman, USA
Born in Kansas City, USA
Regine Leibinger
ArrowDesign Critic in Architecture, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, USA
Foundation of the non-profit organization "Experimental"
John C. Portman Design Critic in Architecture, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, USA
Member of the Munich Urban Design Commission, Germany
Gensler Visiting Critic, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, Ithaca, USA
Member of the working group „Future of Work after Corona“, at the Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences, Halle, Germany
Member of the Dean’s Leadership Council of the Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, USA
AIA Honorary Fellow 2020, Washington/DC, USA
Member of the Board of Trustees of the IBA’27 StadtRegion Stuttgart, Germany
Visiting Professor, Princeton University, School of Architecture, Princeton, USA
Member of the Architecture Section at the Akademie der Künste Berlin, Germany
Member of the “Visiting Committee”, MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, Cambridge, USA
Professor for Building Construction and Design, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Visiting Professor, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, USA
Visiting Professor, Hamburg University of Fine Arts, Germany
Unit Master at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, United Kingdom
Assistant Professor, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Master of Architecture, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, USA
Founding of Barkow Leibinger in Berlin together with Frank Barkow
Diploma, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Born in Stuttgart, Germany
Principals
Martina Bauer
ArrowProfessor at the Institute for Industrial Building and Design - IEK University of Stuttgart, Faculty 1 Architecture and Urban Planning
Principal
Senior Associate
Barkow Leibinger, Berlin, Germany
Diploma Technische Universität Berlin, Germany; Erwin-Stephan Scholarship, Technische Universität, Berlin, Germany; Gibbins, Bultmann & Partner, Hamburg, Germany
Hascher and Jehle Architects and Engineers, Berlin, Germany
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
Lehrecke und Lehrecke Architekten, Berlin, Germany
Born in Paderborn, Germany
Heiko Krech
ArrowPrincipal
Associate
Barkow Leibinger, Berlin, Germany
Registration Boards of Architect, Berlin (No. D10846)
Diploma, Universität Kaiserslautern
Born in Waiblingen, Germany
Lukas Weder
ArrowPrincipal
Associate
Barkow Leibinger, Berlin, Germany
Registration Boards of Architect, Berlin (Nr. 10616), Germany
Augustin and Frank, Berlin
Scholarship Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft
Diploma, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
With A3-Architekten, Berlin, Germany
Pre-medical, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Klaus Reintjes
ArrowPrincipal
Associate
Barkow Leibinger, Berlin, Germany
freelance architect | Joeken Reintjes Architekten, Berlin, Germany
Axel Schultes Architekten, Berlin, Germany
Eckert, Negwer, Sommer, Suselbeek, Berlin, Germany
Diploma, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Born in Dorsten, Germany
Tobias Wenz
ArrowPrincipal
Associate
Barkow Leibinger, Berlin, Germany
Architekten Schweger Partner Berlin, Germany
Diploma, BTU Cottbus, Germany
Born in Karlsruhe, Germany
Principal
Associate
Barkow Leibinger, Berlin (Commercial Management)
PSPC, Berlin
Hochtief, Essen
PSPC, Berlin
Diploma Civil Engineering and Management, Technische Universität Berlin
TishmanSpeyer, Berlin
Born in Hannover
Jan Blifernez (Project Architect)
Nicolai Jasper (Project Architect)
Carolin Lehnerer (Project Architect)
Konrad Scholz (Project Architect)
Volker Steinbrenner (Project Architect)
Tim Unnebrink (Project Architect)
Bogdan Strugar (Team Leader Competitions)
Sebastian Awick (Team Leader)
Ulrich Fuchs (Team Leader Facade Planning)
Gerrit Vetter (Team Leader Facade Planning)
Annette Wagner (Team Leader Interior Design)
Team
Architects
ArrowNick Boer, Simon Büscher, Jan Conradi, Sutong Dong, Felix Fassbinder, Olena Grankina, Sven Hecht, Andrea Huse, Nadja Jeske, Johanna Karges, Tobias Kassens, Momo Knahl, Lena Krämer, Zuzanna Makaruk, Armine Maksudyan, Lukas Martinsons, Maria Matsouki, Iris Mozer, Alessandra Ortelli, Beatriz Pérez Pérez de Iriarte, Carolin Richter, Adin Rimland, Francesca Robustelli, Stefan Sauter, Mengchan Shen
Model Workshop
ArrowShop Manager: Andreas Moling
Interns
ArrowGeorgia Coulter, Emily Eggers
Administration
ArrowAssistant | Secretariat
Antje Großmann, Heike Miche, Stéphanie Neumannl, Henriette Olbrisch, Kashiri Rickes
Personnel Management | HR
Daisy von Gruben
Public Relations
ArrowHead of Communication: Tim Berge, Evgenija Mitin
Nicole Nuñez
External Consultant: Katrin Voermanek