hey all, i'm going to berlin for a little vacation. i have never been there and i was wondering if any of you guys had suggestions for what to check out in the city architecturally. i know it is rich in terms of great buildings and i know many major works to see (mies, eisenman, schinkel, etc) but i wanted to know any other suggestions you might have.
being a student and all, i figure it'd be a good idea to see as many great works as possible, so any suggestions?
the wall, check point charlie, the embassies quarter (including the netherlands one by Koolhaas, and the mexican one by Teodoro Gonzales de Leon), the jewish memorial by eissenman, the tiergarten, Berlin Mitte, the museum of Helmut Newton.... etc etc... mmmhhh Liebeskind fist denver museum..ooppsss i mean the Jewish museum by Libeskind, there's also a Zaha appatment building close to the museum...cannot remember the adress... the SONY CENTER by Jahn/Murphy.... mmmhh of couse the National Gallery by Mies...
i love berlin, sucha intense city...
Alexander platz, Postdammer Platz etc etc etc... the museums quarter...etc
scharoun's philharmonie (which is really near mies' neue nationalgalerie) is great, and well worth going to see a performance at to get a chance to check out the acoustics. the circulation is kind of exciting too. oh, and there's richard serra's 'berlin junction' outside of it too.
the nordic embassies (berger + parkkinen with different architects for the individual embassies) are kind of cool and exciting materially, and they're near the bauhaus archiv, which is full of lovely.
the wee timber chapel of reconciliation by reitermann + sassenroth is well worth a visit.
sauerbruch + hutton's extension to the GSW headquarters looms pretty high above many things but it's really exciting to see the elevation up close.
(of the big-name stuff previously mentioned in the thread, i think the neue nationalgalerie is the only one that didn't leave me cold or worse, so. and you can sit on a barcelona stool without even paying in - cheap thrills!)
they have some good graffetti there also...... i'm sure you'll hear some techno also........ berlin is like the detroit of europe.... alot of dj's from the D play there
staatsbibliothek, scharoun - Potsdamer Str. 33 (near philharmonie + neue nationalgalerie)
there is a google map w/ several of these projects here
also, recommend a trip out to potsdam:
einstein turm, mendelsohn - Wissenschaftspark Albert Einstein
biosphaere, barkow + leibinger - Georg-Hermann-Allee 99
landeszentral bank, ortner + ortner - Helmholtzstraße 3
there's a really cool bar on oberseestrasse which has these huge metal letters which make up the bar, benches, etc... it's all outdoors. If you see people walking down some dark back alley you may want to follow.
Holz, is the Infobox still standing? I was there in 2003, and as Potsdamer Platz was already complete, we couldn't find it anywhere. BTW, Michael Schumacher (the architect) is a really nice guy. He spent a couple hours with us in Frankfurt.
Scharoun's buildings are transcendental. Absolutely go see them!
The most engaging single-space structure I've ever been in is the 'Neue Wache' memorial, I think it was on 'Unter Den Linden' or 'Strasse der Siebtzente Juni'.
Berliners have great stree names, by the way.
Holy shit! The info box is gone?!? I was in Berlin back in '96 and the entire skyline was filled with cranes to build most of the projects mentioned above - the InfoBox had all the drawings, models, etc for those projects and was a damn cool building... I'm sad...
go see the unite out by olympiastadion. it's a long way out there but it looks just like the one in marseille, only less famous.
the altes museum is pretty awesome if you're into schinkel.
although i knocked potsdamer platz in my last post (it's pretty sterile and tame), you might as well walk through it on your way to check out scharoun's philharmonie and mies's neue nationalgalerie. at potsdamer platz, the view from the top of the red brick tower (by hans kolhoff) is pretty stellar. also, the ice cream on the 2nd floor of the mall is delicious.
eisenman's holocaust memorial is great, especially at night, when you get tour groups of kids from holland on school trips who run around and play hide+seek in it, or have a grand time jumpting from block to block, much to the dismay of the security guards.
take a walk down karl-marx-alle (walk fast, it's long and there's not that much to see) for a tour of the post-war soviet stalinist wedding-cake housing blocks. if you have a lot of time, head out to marzahn for a really interesting sea of later concrete housing block that were been painted bright colors in the 1990s to try to make everyone feel better about living there. the scale of the settlement is incredible.
the view from the top of the dom (on museumsinsel) is pretty good and the green copper statues on top are neat.
go see the GMP tower by Sauerbruch+Hutton with its really neat glass facade that was covered in colored shades.
ok i gotta go but if i feel like procrastinating again tonight i'll make up a little article about cool neighborhoods to hang out in.
I lived near Hermanstrasse just south of the S-bahn for a short time, when I first got married. We would have dinner after work, then walk out the door and wander aimlessly in whatever direction we felt like, every evening. It's a great city to explore, both on foot and on rails.
We'd get back to our flat and get giggly every night.
i stayed at a great hotel by GRAFT LAB called HOTEL Q! in Ku-damm. After weeks in hostels, this was my reward to myself. Needless to say, I could only afford one night.
ha, I'm glad holz.box already put in his 2 euros so it should be well covered. :)
whatever you go and see architecturally, don't forget to feast on "currywurst mit pommes" (berlin's most original fast food dish - a MUST TRY) and döner kebab (a delicious contribution from berlin's huge turkish community).
I'll second the crematorium by axel shultes - it has a powerful mysterious vibe to it.
Also I recommend going to the plaza which has a small glass window to an underground room full of empty bookshelves (it may be near Pariser Platz, but I forget exactly). It commemorates the massive Nazi book burning that took place there...and which happened to be the backdrop for the scene in Indian Jones and the Last Crusade where Indiana meets Hitler.
oh yeah, that's total hipster area with tons of good bars, restaurants and stores! prenzlauer berg, mitte, friedrichshain - you can't go bad with these.
- the gsw building on charlottenstrasse in kreuzberg
- treptower park (the crazy soviet monument)
- all those wohnungs in the tiergarten
- rent a bike and ride to the grunewald. amazing.
- scary-looking tempelhof airport south of neukolln
- library at the kulturforum (wings of desire, hooray!)
- unite d'habitation that's adjacent (you can walk from it) from the old nazi olympic stadium
- i guess sophie-gips-hofe is pretty nice
- the dutch embassy (oma) on straulauer strasse
- galeries lafayette (jean nouvel)
- gotta go to berghain/panorama bar (ha!) and tresor. you can't leave berlin without experiencing this hedonism
they're paying? .. can I ... borrow them, then, once you've ditched them and you're searching for that club I recommended to you (but which unfortunately doesn't exist)? ;)
Try Good Friends Restaurant in Kantstrasse, it's superb Chinese cuisine
(like eel stuffed into a pig's stomach and wrapped around a duck or someting). Nice!
other than that, I can recommend Bar Man Ray in Prenzlauer Berg, Zionskirch/ Ecke Choriner Str. Decent cocktails & food.
Going to Berlin, what should I check out?
hey all, i'm going to berlin for a little vacation. i have never been there and i was wondering if any of you guys had suggestions for what to check out in the city architecturally. i know it is rich in terms of great buildings and i know many major works to see (mies, eisenman, schinkel, etc) but i wanted to know any other suggestions you might have.
being a student and all, i figure it'd be a good idea to see as many great works as possible, so any suggestions?
the wall, check point charlie, the embassies quarter (including the netherlands one by Koolhaas, and the mexican one by Teodoro Gonzales de Leon), the jewish memorial by eissenman, the tiergarten, Berlin Mitte, the museum of Helmut Newton.... etc etc... mmmhhh Liebeskind fist denver museum..ooppsss i mean the Jewish museum by Libeskind, there's also a Zaha appatment building close to the museum...cannot remember the adress... the SONY CENTER by Jahn/Murphy.... mmmhh of couse the National Gallery by Mies...
i love berlin, sucha intense city...
Alexander platz, Postdammer Platz etc etc etc... the museums quarter...etc
just what i remember from the top of my mind
thanks a lot. i'm very excited to visit, i've heard a lot of great things. will definitely try to check out what you mentioned.
omg i wanna go
also check my friend CLAU images (natural berliner) to give u a better idea of the city and what to see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3478/sets/72057594051258028/
of course how i forgot the Foster Reichstag!!!...
scharoun's philharmonie (which is really near mies' neue nationalgalerie) is great, and well worth going to see a performance at to get a chance to check out the acoustics. the circulation is kind of exciting too. oh, and there's richard serra's 'berlin junction' outside of it too.
the nordic embassies (berger + parkkinen with different architects for the individual embassies) are kind of cool and exciting materially, and they're near the bauhaus archiv, which is full of lovely.
the wee timber chapel of reconciliation by reitermann + sassenroth is well worth a visit.
sauerbruch + hutton's extension to the GSW headquarters looms pretty high above many things but it's really exciting to see the elevation up close.
lovely berlin. i have a bunch of patchy photos covering a lot of the above if you can ignore the odd/photobooth bits: http://flickr.com/photos/carbide/tags/berlin/
(of the big-name stuff previously mentioned in the thread, i think the neue nationalgalerie is the only one that didn't leave me cold or worse, so. and you can sit on a barcelona stool without even paying in - cheap thrills!)
ich will jetzt danach reisen!
p.s. i was just looking for something else and found this, to add to my own next-time-i'm-in-berlin list: http://www.deadline.de/build/B_BEND-index.html
wow, what IS that bender building.
thanks so much guys. i am definitely checking out those nordic embassies. they look amazing and right up my alley.
carbide, are the chapel of reconciliation and the timber chapel the same thing?
freezerburn: the one i mentioned? yep. sorry, on tail end of all-nighter and clarity is long gone. :D
they have some good graffetti there also...... i'm sure you'll hear some techno also........ berlin is like the detroit of europe.... alot of dj's from the D play there
b
go to the top of the television tower!
einstein tower by mendelsohn. its just outside Berlin, 30 minutes by train if i remember correctly.
Foster's renovations to the Rietchstag building.
dome is a public space, i think there is even a cafe up there. looks down into government hearings.
quick list, with addresses for some of the above projects, all good suggestions..
swiss embassy, roger diener - Otto von Bismarck Allee 4a, Tiergarten
treptow krematorium, axel schultes - Kiefholzstr. 221
photonics center, sauerbruch + hutton, - Chaussee 5, Adlershof
hadid apts. - Stresemannstr. @ Dessauer Str.
siza apts.- Schlesische Straße 1-8
chapel of reconciliation, sassenroth + reitermann - Bernauer Str. 4
velodrome, d. perrault - Europa Sport park
police/fire station, sauerbruch + hutton - Alt-Moabit 143-145
Sporthalle Hausburgviertel, chestnutt niess - Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 6,
cafe brave, nalbach + nalbach - auguststrasse 69
Bundeskanzleramt, axel schultes - Willy-Brandt-Straße 1
Philologische Bibliothek, norman foster - Habelschwerdter allee 45
cafe sale e tabacchi, max dudler - Kochstraße 18
indian embassy, leon wohllhae wernik - Tiergartenstraße 16-17
mexican embassy, león + cacho - Klingelhöferstraße 3
memorial to the murdered jews (w/ cracks) - eisenman - Behrenstraße
Institut fuer physik, augustin + frank - Newtonstraße 15
haus lemke, mies - oberseestrasse 60
gallery?, david chipperfield - am kupfergraben 10
parkside apartments, david chipperfield - tiergarten
hauptbahnhof, von gerkan marg
akademie der kuenste, behnisch - pariser platz 4
kirche st canisius, heike buettner - Witzlebenstrasse 11
youthcenter, barkow + leibinger - Blankenfelder strasse
infobox, schneider + schumacher - potsdamer platz
staatsbibliothek, scharoun - Potsdamer Str. 33 (near philharmonie + neue nationalgalerie)
there is a google map w/ several of these projects here
also, recommend a trip out to potsdam:
einstein turm, mendelsohn - Wissenschaftspark Albert Einstein
biosphaere, barkow + leibinger - Georg-Hermann-Allee 99
landeszentral bank, ortner + ortner - Helmholtzstraße 3
in addition to alot of the previously mentioned stuff, the Kaiser-Wilhelm church by Egon Eiermann is really great
there's a really cool bar on oberseestrasse which has these huge metal letters which make up the bar, benches, etc... it's all outdoors. If you see people walking down some dark back alley you may want to follow.
Cafe Bravo in the Kunstswerke Contemporary Art Gallery. Its a small cafe by dan graham in an 18th century courtyard. and they sell good english tea.
Holz, is the Infobox still standing? I was there in 2003, and as Potsdamer Platz was already complete, we couldn't find it anywhere. BTW, Michael Schumacher (the architect) is a really nice guy. He spent a couple hours with us in Frankfurt.
Scharoun's buildings are transcendental. Absolutely go see them!
damn, i didn't realize it was gone already. removed in 2001.
nice catch.
homage to an info-box...
oh, and student tix to the philharmonie are 7 or 8 euros, or at least that's what they were.
also, a trans pavilion
Hackesche Höfe Hof III, Rosenthalerstr. 40/41
the olympic stadium
The most engaging single-space structure I've ever been in is the 'Neue Wache' memorial, I think it was on 'Unter Den Linden' or 'Strasse der Siebtzente Juni'.
Berliners have great stree names, by the way.
Holy shit! The info box is gone?!? I was in Berlin back in '96 and the entire skyline was filled with cranes to build most of the projects mentioned above - the InfoBox had all the drawings, models, etc for those projects and was a damn cool building... I'm sad...
i heard the payless shoes was nice...
get out of ku'damm fast and go explore some more interesting neighborhoods.
by interesting neighborhoods, i do not mean potsdamer platz
go see the unite out by olympiastadion. it's a long way out there but it looks just like the one in marseille, only less famous.
the altes museum is pretty awesome if you're into schinkel.
although i knocked potsdamer platz in my last post (it's pretty sterile and tame), you might as well walk through it on your way to check out scharoun's philharmonie and mies's neue nationalgalerie. at potsdamer platz, the view from the top of the red brick tower (by hans kolhoff) is pretty stellar. also, the ice cream on the 2nd floor of the mall is delicious.
eisenman's holocaust memorial is great, especially at night, when you get tour groups of kids from holland on school trips who run around and play hide+seek in it, or have a grand time jumpting from block to block, much to the dismay of the security guards.
take a walk down karl-marx-alle (walk fast, it's long and there's not that much to see) for a tour of the post-war soviet stalinist wedding-cake housing blocks. if you have a lot of time, head out to marzahn for a really interesting sea of later concrete housing block that were been painted bright colors in the 1990s to try to make everyone feel better about living there. the scale of the settlement is incredible.
the view from the top of the dom (on museumsinsel) is pretty good and the green copper statues on top are neat.
go see the GMP tower by Sauerbruch+Hutton with its really neat glass facade that was covered in colored shades.
ok i gotta go but if i feel like procrastinating again tonight i'll make up a little article about cool neighborhoods to hang out in.
I lived near Hermanstrasse just south of the S-bahn for a short time, when I first got married. We would have dinner after work, then walk out the door and wander aimlessly in whatever direction we felt like, every evening. It's a great city to explore, both on foot and on rails.
We'd get back to our flat and get giggly every night.
Good times. Seems like such a long time ago.
i stayed at a great hotel by GRAFT LAB called HOTEL Q! in Ku-damm. After weeks in hostels, this was my reward to myself. Needless to say, I could only afford one night.
KitKatClub
don't know if you have left for Berlin yet, but there is an animal hospital that is worth a visit.
http://www.arcguide.de/tiere/html/tierheim01.html
http://www.tierschutz-berlin.de/
have fun
ha, I'm glad holz.box already put in his 2 euros so it should be well covered. :)
whatever you go and see architecturally, don't forget to feast on "currywurst mit pommes" (berlin's most original fast food dish - a MUST TRY) and döner kebab (a delicious contribution from berlin's huge turkish community).
enjoy!
I'll second the crematorium by axel shultes - it has a powerful mysterious vibe to it.
Also I recommend going to the plaza which has a small glass window to an underground room full of empty bookshelves (it may be near Pariser Platz, but I forget exactly). It commemorates the massive Nazi book burning that took place there...and which happened to be the backdrop for the scene in Indian Jones and the Last Crusade where Indiana meets Hitler.
dang.... who doesn't love berlin???
Definitely Check Out this venu:
http://www.bartime.de/location.white-trash.1.654.html
oh yeah, that's total hipster area with tons of good bars, restaurants and stores! prenzlauer berg, mitte, friedrichshain - you can't go bad with these.
- the gsw building on charlottenstrasse in kreuzberg
- treptower park (the crazy soviet monument)
- all those wohnungs in the tiergarten
- rent a bike and ride to the grunewald. amazing.
- scary-looking tempelhof airport south of neukolln
- library at the kulturforum (wings of desire, hooray!)
- unite d'habitation that's adjacent (you can walk from it) from the old nazi olympic stadium
- i guess sophie-gips-hofe is pretty nice
- the dutch embassy (oma) on straulauer strasse
- galeries lafayette (jean nouvel)
- gotta go to berghain/panorama bar (ha!) and tresor. you can't leave berlin without experiencing this hedonism
here's the website for the new chipperfield gallery (am kupfergraben 10) that opened last month in berlin
contemporary fine arts
A holocaust memorial would be my first choice.
Amazing Club for Techno heads
Tresor
the inside is better and that is what matters. The old venue was legendary, shame it closed.
i recommend checking out this little hole in the wall
http://www.klo.de/set_main.htm
I am going to Berlin in a few weeks.
Any suggestions of good restaurants to go to? Expensive is fine since my parents are paying.
Also any good suggestions of clubs to go to, late in the evening once I ditch my parents?
(I've already noted to architecture suggestions from earlier in this thread).
they're paying? .. can I ... borrow them, then, once you've ditched them and you're searching for that club I recommended to you (but which unfortunately doesn't exist)? ;)
Try Good Friends Restaurant in Kantstrasse, it's superb Chinese cuisine
(like eel stuffed into a pig's stomach and wrapped around a duck or someting). Nice!
other than that, I can recommend Bar Man Ray in Prenzlauer Berg, Zionskirch/ Ecke Choriner Str. Decent cocktails & food.
have fun & say Hi! to your parents
Max
See if you can take a photo from the same angle as this one, I have always wanted to see a before and after (Reichstag):
There's also Sachsenhausen, The World's Largest Brick Factory:
Grandiose Plans
that's really helpful, thanks.
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