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Future of the ICC: Only one bidder is fighting for Berlin's cultural treasure!
The Berlin Senate is looking for investors for the ICC in order to revitalize art and culture. Decision by July 2026.
Future of the ICC: Only one bidder is fighting for Berlin's cultural treasure!
The Berlin Senate has made progress in finding a new operator for the International Congress Center (ICC). After the ICC has been largely empty for over ten years, a consortium of several companies has been selected as the sole applicant for the next phase of the procurement process. This was done by berlin.de reported.
The consortium's planned usage concept will focus on art, culture, creative industries, innovation, technology as well as the congress and event sector. All other applicants did not sufficiently meet the requirements of the competition and were not admitted to the next round. The identity of the companies in the consortium remains secret from the Senate Administration; However, these are companies from the fields of construction, architecture, project development and building technology, such as rbb24.de notes.
Next steps in the procurement process
The selected consortium has until the end of April 2026 to develop a detailed usage concept for the ICC. The decision on awarding the business should be made in July 2026. A 14-member jury, consisting of experts from architecture, culture and monument preservation, will make the award recommendation.
As part of the concept process, the future operator undertakes to renovate, renovate and, if necessary, convert the building. The land on which the ICC is located, as well as the adjacent property at Messedamm 9, remains the property of the State of Berlin and is granted under a 99-year leasehold. In addition, a new building up to 80 meters high can be built on the Messedamm 9 property. The old ICC parking garage could be replaced by a new building that cannot be higher than the listed ICC.
Historical reviews and current meaning of “art”
The ICC, which opened in 1979, was once considered one of the most important convention centers in the world. In 2014 it had to be closed due to technical problems and high operating costs. In 2019 it was finally added to the Berlin list of monuments as an architectural monument. These developments have highlighted the need for new approaches to the use and revitalization of the ICC. The connection to “art” is not purely formal, but rather underlines the intention to create innovative cultural offerings that could revive interest in the building.
The term “art” itself, which stands for “knowledge, ability” in Middle Low German and Proto-Germanic “*kunstiz”, has numerous cultural dimensions. In various languages, including Danish and Norwegian, one encounters similar terms that reflect the universal importance of art as an expression of human knowledge and skill, while also highlighting the downside of the planning concepts for the ICC in the focus of the event and the creative industries, as well wiktionary.org informed.