British architect David Chipperfield, together with New York-based KARO architects and the Paratus Group, has been commissioned by the German government to convert the former Goethe House at 1014 Fifth Avenue in New York into a center for transatlantic encounters. An independent jury selected the Chipperfield team’s design – titled "An Open House / A Sharing House / A House as Home" – over nine other proposals in the final round.

The six-story Beaux-Art style building in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has belonged to the Federal Republic of Germany since the 1950s. It long served as the headquarters of the Goethe-Institut New York. Since 2017, it provides a space for ideas, and is currently occupied by 1014, a new American not-for-profit organization named after the address on 5th Avenue.

“We are grateful for Germany’s continuous investment into the trans-Atlantic friendship,” said Andreas Fibig, President of 1014.

The jury chose the Chipperfield design because it creates a modern, appealing, open and inviting public space while preserving the domestic character of a townhouse.

The proposals for the remodeling will be presented to the public in an exhibition at 1014 Fifth Avenue in October 2021 along with programs on the architecture and history of the neighborhood.