POTSDAMER PLATZ

Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz is the most striking example of the urban renewal that turned Berlin into the ‘New Berlin’ in the 1990s. The challenge of rebuilding the heart of post Cold War Berlin was a huge undertaking – how to transform a desolate sandy wasteland into the new German capital’s city centre. At stake was nothing less than making a statement on the fundamental principles of urban design at the end of the 20th century.

The long debates about the future of Potsdamer Platz needed to resolve the issue of bringing authentic metropolitan life into an area which had been dead for years – integrating residential accommodation with shopping, leisure and business needs to ensure that the area was animated around-the-clock.

The brief required a masterplan to transform a million square metres of urban wasteland into a dynamic living space with major traffic inter-change and incorporating mixed-use development.

Our involvement with Alsop & Stormer’s proposals was radical and we were given the freedom to complement their refreshing and comprehensive plans that brought fluidity and transparency to this iconic landmark site.

Exhibited at the 1996 Royal Academy Summer Show

Client: City of Berlin

Architect: Alsop and Lyall