15th INTERNATIONAL PLANNING HISTORY SOCIETY CONFERENCE REPRESENTING THE NETHERLANDS OR REPRESENTING REM KOOLHAAS: THE DUTCH EMBASSY IN BERLIN OZAN AVCI Address:Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Architecture Department of Architecture Taskisla, Taksim/ISTANBUL e-mail: ozan.avci@gmail.com ABSTRACT Berlin is one of the most glamorous capital cities in Europe. The architectural production of a capital city is very important in consequence of political and representational architecture. In this context, embassy buildings act a significant role like representing a nation in an other country especially in this modern world where we can hardly talk about “national architecture”. The Embassy of the Netherlands in Berlin is a considerable example for political architecture and representation. Not only its architectural qualities and denotation as an office building, but also its language and connotation as representing the Netherlands make it a significant example in the context of semiotics in architecture. It is always claimed that architecture and urban design have an important role in national representation. Capital cities and governmental buildings would seem to serve and symbolize a nation or state as a whole, but on the other hand, they are chosen by the leadership rather than by the populace and also they are designed by an architect, so the final product does not have a real national identity. Architecture together with urban planning often amplify national identity, but some important parts of this concept is always missing. The decision maker of creating and constituting a new capital or a governmental building is not the nation itself but the regime and the designer whose own sense of identity is projected onto that of the nation they seek to build. In this semiotic context, an embassy building can be discussed as a problematique, thus the connotation of the building becomes more than one. The Dutch Embassy in Berlin represents not only the Netherlands but also Germany and Rem Koolhaas himself. In this paper, The Dutch Embassy in Berlin will be discussed with its denotation and connotations in the context of semiotic and political architecture. The national images of Germany, which is reunified and struggling with its sad past that can be felt in the urban pattern, and the Netherlands, which is characterized by the ideas like clarity, modernity and transparency, will be problematized within the design process of the building by a star architect, Rem Koolhaas. The historical background of Berlin as the making of a capital and the Dutch presence in Germany will be expressed and the Dutch Embassy building will be examined critically as part of semiotics in architecture.