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Berlin’s regional parliament is considering creating a car-free zone in the German capital in response to a concerted push from a local advocacy group. The car ban would apply to the space ringed by the S-Bahn train line, which circles the city center, an area larger than Manhattan. — Yale Environment 360
Berlin’s mayor called the plan “unrealistic” back in May, aligning herself with the rest of the Social Democrats, who were joined by every other major political party in the country in their lack of support for the measure at the time of the September elections. A small group of German... View full entry
The world’s premier techno capital is back under the grip of the pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped its vanguard from seeking a special status for venues like the Berghain from an international cultural organization with a reputation for being as formidable as its famous bouncer. The Guardian... View full entry
Plans are moving forward for a “low-tech transformation” of West Berlin’s storied film and television studios Berliner Union Film Ateliers (BUFA) called Atelier Gardens from London-based developer Fabrix and MVRDV. Approval has been granted for a six-acre adaptive reuse project at the... View full entry
The important first section of OMA’s redesigned master plan for the famed Berlin department store Kaufhaus des Westens (or KaDeWe) has officially opened to the public this week after a five-year renovation effort. Organized into quadrants, the reorganized mass introduces a smaller area plan with... View full entry
Blue Crow Media’s latest update to a series of influential design maps uses 50 select sites along the U-Bahn, Berlin’s invisible lifeline, as a means of looking into the social and economic impacts of architecture in 20th-century Berlin. Courtesy Blue Crow Media Featuring... View full entry
But where cities are succeeding, they’re finding that electrifying public transit can solve more than just climate problems. It can clean the air, reduce traffic jams and, ideally, make getting around town easier for ordinary people, which is why some politicians have staked their reputations on revamping transit. In many cases, city governments have been able to take climate action faster than their national governments. — The New York Times
The effort to reduce car traffic mirrors those taking shape in U.S. cities like New York and San Francisco. The cost of doing so has in a way become its own problem, as the infrastructure required to support expansive EV fleets in large metropolitan areas has proven to be a challenge for many of... View full entry
Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie is finally back open following a six-year, $160 million refurbishment by David Chipperfield Architects. The original Mies van der Rohe building from 1968 now features a restored glass facade, expanded exhibition space, sculpture garden, and improved LED... View full entry
The long-awaited opening of Berlin’s Humboldt Forum took place yesterday afternoon, ending a years-long wait that saw a torrent of missives, protests, and other public backlash against the €680 million ($800 million) project hosted by the city’s Museum Island. © Stiftung Humboldt Forum... View full entry
A theatrical new subway station is gracing the Berlin stage after a dramatic opening Friday. The new Museumsinsel U-Bahn station is part of an expansion of the U5 that will connect the line into an area of the city called Museum Island. Swiss architect Max Dudler is behind the... View full entry
Berlin is to hold a referendum on a grassroots proposal that would force major property companies to sell thousands of their apartments to a public-owned body. A public petition for the idea, fueled by anger over surging housing prices, has gathered 183,711 valid signatures, which is more than the... View full entry
Nearly a decade after being appointed to refurbish one of Modernism's most iconic buildings, the team of architect David Chipperfield wrapped up construction on the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. In a recent virtual ceremony, the keys were handed over to the clients — Berlin State... View full entry
On the site of a church torn down by East Germany’s communist rulers, a new place of worship is set to rise that will bring Christians, Jews and Muslims under one roof – and it has already been dubbed a “churmosquagogue”. — The Guardian
Designed by Berlin-based architects Kuehn Malvezzi, the $57 million House of One project for the historic Petriplatz in Germany's capital has been in a lengthy planning process for the past ten years. Previously on Archinect: Designing the House of One, a Worship Space for Three Religions by Kuehn... View full entry
Nine years late and $4 billion over budget, the airport is already outdated. Repeated blunders dented the image of German efficiency, but the “poor but sexy” capital has long been a bit different. [...]
Under construction for 14 years, the airport is nine years past its original opening date and more than $4 billion over budget. Every month, it costs several million dollars just to keep the unused airport running.
— The New York Times
Katrin Bennhold, The New York Times’s Berlin bureau chief, takes a look back at the unbelievable saga of the long-awaited and — nine years behind schedule — now finally opened Berlin-Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport. "The foundations of the terminal were already laid when it emerged... View full entry
GRAFT has revitalized a historical post office in Berlin, expanding it with two buildings and converting the existing rooftops into commercial spaces. Accessible to the public, the new complex includes offices, restaurants, retail space, and apartments. © Bttr GmbH The original post office... View full entry
The Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin is set to reopen in the summer of 2021, more than six years after it closed for renovation, with an exhibition of the American sculptor Alexander Calder in the temple-like steel-and-glass upper level of the building.
Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and first opened in 1968, the museum is undergoing a €100m modernisation and refurbishment by the Berlin-based British architect David Chipperfield [...].
— The Art Newspaper
Reflecting on the significance, and also quirks, of Mies van der Rohe's 1967 New National Gallery, the architect of the ambitious renovation project, David Chipperfield, told the New York Times in a 2017 interview: "Mies took architecture to its extreme. And as a result, the building has... View full entry
