Never has an architectural project been so vilified as this one, designed to symbolise the "Republic of Berlin". However, the chancellery, designed by architects Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank, does justice to a democratic and powerful State at ease with itself. Opened in 2001, it contains a central 36m-high cube flanked by two long wings. Columns, courtyards and glass roofs open up the building, endowing it with a sense of dynamism.