Berlin's ICC to be transformed into art and culture hub

The future of Berlin's iconic International Congress Centrum (ICC), a 313-meter-long steel structure closed since 2014 due to asbestos, will be revealed on June 24, 2026. Berlin's economics senator Franziska Giffey and building senator Christian Gaebler will present the results of a concept procedure that began in November 2024. The ICC is to become a unique location for art, culture, and the creative industries. The building, opened in 1979, once hosted millions of visitors and won multiple World Travel Awards. After its closure, a 2018 Senate announcement promised revival, and in 2021-2022 it hosted cultural events. A 2024 international competition sought operators for a 99-year leasehold. According to the Berliner Morgenpost, the operators of Leipzig's Spinnerei creative complex, coordinated by MIB AG, are likely to take over. The building, listed as a historic monument since 2019, has an estimated renovation cost of over 330 million euros.