The House of World Cultures in Berlin is Germany's national centre for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and societies. It was formerly known as the Kongresshalle conference hall, a gift from the United States, designed in 1957 by the American architect Hugh Stubbins as a part of the International Building Exhibition. Typical for Berlin popular humour, Berliners nicknamed it Die schwangere Auster ("The pregnant Oyster")