The germ cell of the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe dates back to the year 1855. During the Second World War all the buildings of the academy were either badly damaged or destroyed completely. 44 years passed before financing and planning were all wrapped up and building commenced. After a building period of two years, the academy now boasts studios and workshops for sculptors and students that leave nothing to be desired in the way of bright, spacious, 10 m high studios with glass roofs and galleries and set into a natural environment of a park-like garden and a built-up environment to which the new building responds with related building height, scale and proportion.