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Wiel Arets Architects

Wiel Arets Architects

Amsterdam, NL | Maastricht, NL | Zürich, CH | Munich, DE

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WAA progress construction on the Truman Plaza in Berlin

By WielAretsArchitects
Nov 12, '13 5:26 AM EST

Located in Berlin Zehlendorf, Truman Plaza parallels the adjacent Clayallee and is part of a larger master plan balancing its historic context with the integration of a delicate onsite forest. Constituting offices, retail, health, and sports facilities that together form an urban cluster sited around a public plaza within this leafy borough on the edge of Berlin; a series of staggered volumes' height graduations and setbacks provide a framework and rhythm, while a taller two-part structure anchors the project to its site. Depending on perspective, these volumes merge to create a cityscape, while the public plaza, or square, establishes a meeting point for residents by acting as a social condenser. Pathways stemming from this plaza extend to the Grunewald forest surrounding the site. Multiple terraces at varying heights define the project's visual relationship to its site – fostering interiority – while a small pavilion near the onsite forest will eventually host a café. As the project is situated on a highly frequented prelude en route to the center of Berlin, the importance of these outdoor spaces goes beyond the project’s immediate development by extending the Clayallee's existing green belt to enable the emergence of a large plaza at the corner of Argentinische Allee, which will shape the Truman Plaza’s entrance and further define its site.

Read more about the Truman Plaza