Giants of Berlin 2
How much damage one wackadoodle architect, fueled with too much political tailwind can cause to a city? (even if it is as aesthetically challenged as Berlin) How to spot a dangerous and irreversible shift in the life of the city? Here is my existential crisis triggered by a phallus.
After writing about Germania, I’m sometimes left to ponder what Berlin would be like had it been built. A different city would that be, that has nothing to do with the one I live in today.
The Phallus
Anyone who moved to Berlin more than two years ago has the urge to tell you that the city has changed, and not for the better. Everything was cooler before: clubs, drugs, we were younger, and the falafel was only 1.50 euros! Is it just getting older or does the city we loved slowly turns into something unrecognizable? Next to the price of a falafel, perhaps Architecture could be a way to measure the change. We just have to spot the buildings that are the emissaries of the impending doom. As I was lost in these thoughts I stepped off at Warschauer Strasse and looked up. The behemoth looming overhead was laughing.
New boss in town
Is there anyone out there who likes Warschauer Strasse? Changing from the metro to the Sbahn is always a hassle and the place is humming with tourists. To make matters worse a shopping mall was added to the pack, which is hard to reach even from the other side of the street. It felt lightyears away when I once had to visit its bathrooms.
In this former no man’s land, where once east and west faced each other, now one of the highest buildings in Berlin claims place. Set to be constructed by 2024, the gargantuan and flashy 140m tall skyscraper will house mostly Amazon offices.
The size matter
The Amazon tower would fit right in London, but in Berlin, it feels out of place. At least felt till now. The humble name of the humble architectural office that designed the building, is BIG. The size is pretentious. Despite the collective thumbs down from the locals and contrariety with the long-term urban development plan, the tower got a building permit. The pandemic put an end to the demonstrations against the construction, and Berlin, who had successfully fought against the Google campus in 2018, has now given in. We even lost the rent cap when it got scrapped by the constitutional court and now this tower despite the opposing voices and resistance will force itself on us. We lost against the powers it demonstrate.
Symbols of capitalism
Every gigantic building is a symbol of the current driving forces. The skyscrapers, our latest goliaths differ from other eras’ power symbols. When it comes to style, they have little in common with the classicizing architecture of twentieth-century dictatorships. The vertical shiny glass towers were meant to disavow the past and not derive from it. They want to appear as transcending nations, borders, and religions.
The materials are glass and metal. Produced far enough to be able to see under what circumstances, but about that later in another post… The building claims to be eco-friendly which raises some doubts to the least, but which building nowadays dares to market itself otherwise anyway?
Coming further from the poignant tower I shudder to think where will the next wave of gentrification force me. (Brandenburg?!) How much higher the rent can climb? After a brief existential crisis, I try to recollect myself. I might not live to see it, but this Tower one way or another will fall. I would only like to know what the next giant will look like that exceeds this one. I hope it will be vulva shaped.