The Tempodrom is a Berlin venue that was initially launched in 1980 as an alternative venue on the west side of Potsdamer Platz, in the immediate vicinity of what was then the Berlin Wall, in the form of a circus tent. The new Tempodrom building was constructed in 2001 according to designs by Doris Schäffler and Stephan Schütz of the architectural firm Gerkan, Marg and Partners. The 37-meter-high roof structure with its futuristic white forms is reminiscent of Oscar Niemeyer's Brasília Cathedral. Visually, it is based on the shape of a circus tent.
