2023-06-05 11:12:13
On Friday evening, the French ambassador invited to a style comparison between Berlin and Paris. Who makes the better architecture? A debriefing.
French Ambassador François DelattreTomasz Kurianowicz
Berlin and Paris are two metropolises with different characters – and yet with the unmistakable claim of being and wanting to remain a cosmopolitan city. Paris fulfills this requirement like no other metropolis in Europe. And Berlin? The answer is mixed, after all, Berlin’s cosmopolitanism doesn’t really want to work – not even 33 years after the fall of the Wall. Isn’t that also due to the local architecture?
This question was unmistakably in the air when world-class architects met for a discussion at the French embassy on Friday evening. The French Ambassador had invited Francois Delattre, who also gave the opening speech. Among others, the architects Sergei Tchoban and Christoph Langhof were present. The latter in particular conjured up the courageous architecture in Paris and was very specific: the French cosmopolitan city would dare to do something, here in Germany mediocrity prevails and, above all, the dictates of urban bureaucracy, which hides behind norms and regulations.
The Germans love mediocrity
As an example of positive and bold gentrification tactics, the Center Georges-Pompidou was cited as having successfully transformed Paris’ 4th arrondissement after it opened in 1977. Setting architectural accents, on the other hand, is scarce in Berlin. The Austrian Christoph Langhof showed courage himself by again criticizing the desolate architecture around the Berlin Central Station as a negative example and pointedly revealing the area to be ridiculous as a “large parking lot”.
Drink at the French EmbassyTomasz Kurianowicz
So why not take a risk? Projects such as the “Amazon Tower” by Bjarke Ingels were in the air as reference points, which will soon be the tallest building in Berlin (142 meters), which is actually called the Edge East Side Tower and, located between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, should be completed at the end of 2023. Everything always takes so long in Berlin, complained the architects on the podium. And the population wants to have a say anytime, anywhere, and in the end they want to see the reconstruction of old buildings.
Appearance and reality: the borders are often fluid
Senate Building Director Petra Kahlfeldt spoke from the audience. She used her time to give an ode to the city of Berlin and the complicated planning procedures. After all, according to Kahlfeldt, the historical conditions are taken into account everywhere in Berlin, the population is involved in the decisions, which is the purest form of democracy. In addition, Berlin would always want to reach an agreement on social issues, which would not bother star architects so much. She remembered a symposium in Japan, where she met an architect who complained about Berlin and the long procedures – and then finally admitted that he would rather build anywhere than in the German capital. (So Berlin is kind of a thorny opportunity, you could say.)
And what did the architects say about sustainable building? This was one of the most interesting thoughts in the conversation: An architect from the audience complained that future-oriented sustainable buildings for the public were not evaluated according to their durability, but according to the number of plants on their outer facades. Such buildings are often “greenwashed” and are no greener and more efficient than well-designed glass towers. Berlin and Paris, appearance and reality: The event showed that the borders are often fluid.
Do you have feedback? Write us! [email protected]
#big #parking #lot