Thursday, August 03, 2006

Potsdamer Platz

Potsdamer Platz was a central hub of Berlin nightlife in the 1920’s and 1930’s, but was heavily damaged during WWII. It was further destroyed in 1961 as the area straddled East and West Berlin, and any remaining buildings were leveled to build the wall and the no-man’s land. Beginning in the 1990’s, the Potsdamer Platz area became the biggest construction site in Europe as new buildings and plazas were constructed. Today it is once again a central area of Berlin. What really appeals to me about the place is how well designed it is: it is a great example of mixed-use planning where there is a combination of residential, commercial, restaurants, entertainment, and transportation facilities all intermingled. Further, there’s a great interplay between private and public space. The Sony Center, for example is both public in that it is unbounded and allows free movement and public activity, yet it is private in that it is somewhat confined and contains private industry – restaurants, cinemas, and business offices. This interplay is, I think, representative of the best of urban design. In the rest of the Platz, I like that they have reserved some space for a grassy park, as well as for a man-made lake – areas that surely could have been quite profitable had another commercial building been built. Some Pictures:






The roof of the Sony Center during the day, and then lit up at night:









9 comments:

chumly said...

I was stunned at the beauty of some of these photo's.

cielo lindo said...

If you're interested in the German cinema, and have not yet been to the Filmmuseum at Potsdamer Platz, I recommend you make a trip down there. The Arsenal cinemas there frequently have screenings of movies of special themes. Check them out if you’re interested. While Potsdamer Platz is surely one of the places to go for aficionados of modern architecture, you may also wish to check out Pariser Platz for buildings designed by architects like Frank Gehry (DZ Bank, go inside the lobby) and Günter Behnisch (Akademie der Künste, see if you can check out some of the facilities and spaces inside other than those on the ground floor). If you go, you may get some great pictures there!

Jacob Mathai said...

Your pictures are inspiring me to travel again ..

Anonymous said...

I´d like to know what you feel on these places ...to know if you feel something close of what i feel when i se your pictures.

mika said...

ok, checha, slightly dramatic, no? i like you graphics , budak, very pretty and shiny and sparkly and glittery.:)

PT121171 said...

Hi, great Pictures at all, me and my wife visit Berlin last year, the road "Unter den Linden" is great. Made you a bus tour threw the city?
I also visit Berlin in 1988, before the wall falls, east Berlin was horrific.

I stay now in France, visit my blog and see the pictures.

Regards, Peter

Anonymous said...

yes, I like to agree to the other comments.
very nice shots :)

Carol said...

I definitely need to get back to Berlin! On my last visit, we spent quite a while at Checkpoint Charlie. I remember them checking my make-up and tampon containers for, what -- BOMBS?!

Carol

Sarah Sue said...

that is just wonderful, the ultimate advertisement for Germany!
Makes me want to go there, your pictures are awesome! I love the perspective you took it from. Lovely!