After WWII, the city of Berlin held a competition called InterBau, which invited renowned architects to propose new buildings for the rebuilding of the city. The competition asked the architects to focus on the Hansaviertel an area of the city that was heavily bombed and desperately needed rejuvenation.

In the fall of 1953, Le Corbusier’s planned building was selected, but give its size and the available space in Hansaviertel, the project could not be realized. However, the city was aware that Corbusier’s building would be a valued addition to their then-downtrodden city and thus gave him a western plot of land near the olympic stadium.

When the 17-story building was completed in 1958, it housed over 530 apartments. By 1980 the building was no longer used as an apartment building and was handed over to the Corbusier Foundation to maintain and make necessary repairs.