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JENS METZ, architect and urbanist. Founder of plattformberlin office (DE). Guest professor at the Frankfurt UAS. Member of Europan’s Technical Committee www.plattformberlin.com
Point of view
Rediscoveries - Of Modern Myths and Ancient Memories “As to your Newton, I confess I do not
been rebuild after the evacuation of the debris
Potsdamer Platz, the former economic centre
understand his void and his gravity;
of war to the large voids visible in its centre
and going-out venue in the heart of the city,
I admit he has demonstrated the movement
until recently, the sensation of openness
was demolished in the war and abandoned
of the heavenly bodies with more exactitude
and unfinished characterise the city as a
during the Cold War due to the construction
than his forerunners; but you will admit
“Stadtlandschaft”, a city-landscape, made
of the wall in its centre (fig.2-3). The decision
it is an absurdity to maintain the existence
of discontinuities, sudden shifts of spatial
to recover the place was driven by economic
of Nothing.”
perception and large interior perspectives.
interests; it was rebuilt very soon after the
FREDERICK THE GREAT, KING IN PRUSSIA,
Looking at these urban voids, retracing their
fall of the Berlin Wall “as if nothing had
IN A LETTER TO VOLTAIRE, NOV. 25, 1777
history, their appearance and later fill up –or
happened”, according to the urban dogma of
not–, the debates and controversies around
the “critical reconstruction”, with the notable
Berlin. Thinking of vacancy in an urban
them, there are three recent case-studies
exception of some moderate towers. There
context, it is my city that first comes to my
as archetypes of voids. Their nature has
was no public debate, the pressure was too
mind. Berlin has been the capital of voids,
been transformed in the last 25 years, due to
high. The result is well known, the former void
at least for the last fifty years, if we consider
changes in economy, governance or society.
has disappeared, replaced by the globally
them as missing parts in a city’s fabric, clearly
None of these reasons have been unique, it
accepted mix of fashion brands, coffee shops
identifiable “other” spaces, open, free, full of
has always been a juxtaposition of different
and urban entertainment, masked by what
generosity and unexplored possibilities (fig.1).
influences that made these voids change their
Charles Jencks qualified as “trophy buildings
Here, in the mythic home of space pioneers
affectation, also according to unexpected
of the worst kind”, the botoxed face of global
and temporary activations, a role model for
occasions, change of moods or political
capitalist architecture. Someone shot nostalgia
almost all sorts of voids could be found,
upheavals. Their fate could also be seen as
in the back.
smaller or larger, voluntary or by inadvertence,
a coming-of-age story, where the previously
The park Gleisdreieck (fig.4.) is a younger
poetic or violent. Berlin, mon amour.
young and rude city becomes mature,
example of the transformation of a vacant site
Historically, the larger urban unbuilt areas in
covering the scars of an excessive and
inside the city. A former railyard right in the
Berlin are, due to its polycentric structure,
exhausting youth by the unified cardboard-like
South of Potsdamer Platz, it was abandoned
forming gaps or areas reserved for particular
scenery, turning an uncertain yet identifiable
for many years, pioneer plants took over the
purposes between them. World War II changed
smile into a hollow grin, or, as an opposite
site making it almost inaccessible. The shift
the face of the city, causing multiple scratches
posture, exposing the cracks and wrinkles in
of the ownership from the railway company
and broken teeth, wounds and missing links.
a fragile wink. Nostalgia burns in the hearts of
to the city of Berlin and the development of
From the numerous open plots that have not
the strongest.
Potsdamer Platz made it possible to realise a new park on the site. The constructions needed an ecological compensation in terms of unsealed surfaces, and there was a large public demand for green spaces. The discussions between the developers and the inhabitants were tough, finally a compromise was found and it was decided to redefine the borders by new constructions, also meant to balance the costs for the park. The third, most recent and probably trendsetting vacant site is the former airport Tempelhof (fig.5), a huge open space in the middle of densely populated housing areas. Constructed in the National Socialist era as “central airport”, it was used by the American army during the Berlin airlift shortly after the war, and then again it served as civil airport
1 - BERLIN (DE)
until 2008. Over the years, the discussion about