deadline > gaps are the physical presence of the future
Startlöcher • 'start Gap'Berlin Mitte was an urban park of extraordinary character when we moved here in 1992. It was haunted by ghosts of an old war, populated with citizens of an extinct regime, wild and overgrown. Deteriorating buildings stood in noble isolation in the centre of a major international city. You could hear the future in this wilderness - the twenty-first century European city seeking rebirth amongst innumerable gaps.. When the Wall came down, the original geographical centre of Berlin was reinstated. This centre had been a no man's land for 40 years and by 1990 it bore no resemblance to the nineteenth century city from which it grew. Many buildings stood empty, and almost all were in desperate need of repair. The bombings had removed all but traces of the old city structure, and Stalinist re planning had overwritten the small street structure with monumental axes and large parade grounds. For these 40 years West Berlin was a small frontier town, its island economy was based on heavy subsidies. Berlin's status as a experimental field for modern planning had been cemented by two International Building Exhibitions (IBA), in 1957 and 1987, which were government efforts to rebuild the city, and showcase experiments in architecture and urban planning. |
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The reunification gave Berlin an unbelievable opportunity to remake its city centre, redefine itself, and in so doing chart a new concept for the twenty first century European city. The current reconstruction has focused on recreating a nostalgic past before the conflict. The old nineteenth century city street plan was pulled out of the archives, and became the basis for all important decisions. The politicians and planners created an unimaginative set of rules they dubbed 'Critical Reconstruction'. These rules took the form of numerical limitations forcing new construction to imitate the old street facades. |
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© 1997 deadline - office for architectural services |
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