Modernist Architecture in Berlin

I found an interesting article on Planetizen that I had to read and respond to.

Big-name and big-idea architecture is leading the revival of Berlin into one of the world's cultural capitals.

"In the years that Berlin has been claimed as a united Germany’s capital, it has become a mecca for the world’s architects, who have taken up the unique challenge of creating a modern European metropolis, complete with an embassy district, government buildings, cultural institutions and corporate headquarters."

"Ironically, today the former East Berlin houses many of the city’s trendiest neighbourhoods. Even the West Berliners are envious. But in the nearly 30 years that the wall was up it created two distinct cities, divided then as much by their politics as by the style of their urban development."

"Rebuilding the city has had to take this to heart. And as Verlag points out, what makes architecture in Berlin stand out is not least its effort to reconcile history with the present."

"You see it in the city’s new additions: Norman Foster’s glass cupola atop the Reichstag parliament building; the glass- enclosed spiral staircase addition to the National Museum. The old and new versions sit side by side, commenting on each other. The most common element is the use of natural light. Even the new station is a glass structure, revealing its platforms, while allowing the traveller to see the landscape outside."

For the full article, check out: www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=623358

My response, posted on Planetizen:
"As someone living in one of the trendy East Berlin neighborhoods (Friedrichshain), there actually is very little of the avant-gard architecture here. Rather, the popular eastern neighborhoods - Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg, parts of Mitte as well as Kreuzberg (which was former west, but eastern feel) - actually are characterized by traditional Berlin architecture: first floor retail with four stories of housing above, all built at the outer edge of the block along the sidewalk. These are the most lively neighborhoods with the street front retail that has the cool bars, restaurants and people which make the area "trendy".

The avant-gard architecture is mostly in Mitte, especially a lot of it where the "no mans land" between the walls used to be. These buildings make for an contrasting display of unusual modern art, reflective of this era of "public building as public art." Since the world is on this art collecting phase, I think the city of Berlin would feel left out if it didn't join in too. Considering that you can find a Libeskind or a Gehry in most major cities, its starting to feel about as common as discovering a local H&M or Ikea.

What does make Berlin unique is how strongly the architecture tells the political history. From the grandeur of Prussian architecture, the tenements from the industrial revolution, the Bauhaus reforms, foreboding Nazi buildings, the Russian-influenced communist east Berlin, and the modernized West - the fact that the city wears a rich and conflicted history is far more interesting. Certainly not all "happy art," but that's part of what makes the city intriguing."

For the full lively discussion on Planetizen, check out: www.planetizen.com/node/28679

More thoughts:
And as a postscript to my comment, I also could not imagine Berlin without any buildings with "modern" architectural style from a variety of eras. That's part of the city's history: the Bauhaus school was located in Berlin during the 1920s and the idea of "modernist" is a Berlin tradition.

Simon Dach Strasse: in the heart of Friedrichshain it has restaurants and bars galore.

A building on Frankfurter Allee with a high tech look. You only notice that from across the street; walking by it has similar street front retail to all of its neighbors.

The iconic Potsdamer Platz. It was built in the mid-1990s to fill in the void of where the no-mans land between the walls used to exist. And yes, it does look cool at night.

The history of the DDR: matching towers at Frankfurter Tor were built in the 1950s, reminiscent of Russian architectural style meant to impress. This street leading to Mitte (where the TV tower is located) used to be Stalin Allee but has been renamed to Karl-Marx Allee/Frankfurter Allee with the name change occurring at this intersection. When Berlin had a wall around the city in the medieval age, Frankfurter Tor (gate) was a gate on the southeastern side of the city. Additionally, this is also my Bahn stop.