[Please note: the photographs and text here are from 1998, when the Potsdamer Platz was under construction. Apologies for the out-of-date content - more up-to-date contributions welcomed...]

Two sites on either side of Neue Potsdamer Strasse, being developed by Sony and Daimler-Benz, represent the largest concentration of development in Berlin. Potsdamer Platz, at the center of Berlin before World War II, sat just east of the wall for some decades and remained an undeveloped no-man’s land, ripe for development once the city was reunified.

The complex of buildings will contain Sony’s European Headquarters, offices, retail space, apartments, hotels, and entertainment spaces, including cinemas and a casino. Architects include Murphy/Jahn, the Richard Rogers Partnership, Jose Rafael Moneo, Renzo Piano, Arata Isozaki & Associates and Kolhoff & Timmermann. Despite the fact that none of the superstar architects designing buildings here are doing their best or most interesting work, the several blocks of new buildings are thoughtfully planned in relation to one another, and promise to be at least handsome. Here, the most notable aspects of development are the planning and infrastructure that underpin the success of the individual buildings. The investment in infrastructure (services, and especially the upgrades and expansion of the subway) and the political and administrative will to add so much to a city in such a concentrated period of time are remarkable.

Jay Berman 1998

How to visit

Take the Ubahn/Sbahn S1, S2 or U2 to Potsdamer Platz.