Many of the buildings and sites of the exhibition „Anything Goes? Berlin Architecture of the 1980s“ are located in the immediate vicinity of the Berlinische Galerie. For the exhibition, the Berlinische Galerie has therefore developed a web-based digital application that makes it possible to experience the exhibition in urban spaces. This audio walk app tells the stories behind the buildings in their actual locations in the city. Three routes lead to important buildings and sites of the International Building Exhibition Berlin 1987 (IBA 87) in Kreuzberg and to the postmodern buildings in East and West Berlin along Friedrichstrasse.
The audio essays can be played back in chapters. To make navigation easier, the three thirty-minute routes are marked on a digital map. Alternatively, you can listen to the audio walks at home or in any other place you wish.
The buildings described in the audio walks are homes. Please show consideration for the people living in them and respect their privacy. You have no permission to take photographs or to enter private areas. Thank you.
Route 1: IBA New – Around the Berlinische Galerie
Hans Kollhoff, Rob Krier, and John Hejduk: international architects, a studio tower, urban villas, and experimental-traditional housing forms – the area around the Berlinische Galerie was the largest exhibition area of IBA 87 for new construction. At the beginning of the 1980s, this area, known as the Southern Friedrichstadt, was still scarred by vacant lots. As part of the IBA, 600 new apartments were built here – in the postmodern style on the historical layout of the city.
Route 2: IBA Old – Cautious Urban Renewal in Kreuzberg SO36
Squatters, dilapidated old buildings, a daycare center in a parking garage, and a lost admiral – this Kreuzberg neighborhood around Kottbusser Tor was a site of experiments by people seeking an alternative way of life. Architects of the 1980s tried to enable diverse models for living while at the same time combining them with the technological demands of contemporary apartments. Under the label IBA Old, architects and residents together invented “Cautious Urban Renewal.” An urban mix, resident participation, and affordable rents were the goals and promise of the project.
Route 3: Friedrichstrasse – New Splendor for the Divided Boulevard
Running straight from Kreuzberg to Mitte, from West to East Berlin, divided by the Berlin Wall at Checkpoint Charlie, famous Friedrichstrasse was a bleak area in the early 1980s because it was filled with vacant lots and felt like the outskirts of the city. For the celebration of Berlin’s 750th anniversary, both halves of the city caused this boulevard to shine with a new urban luster. On both sides of the wall, vacant lots were filled and the historical contour of the street restored – with rational postmodernism in the West and historicizing architecture in the East.
Impressum
© Berlinische Galerie, Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst, Fotografie und Architektur, 2021.
The rights to text and images are held by the authors and photographers. All rights reserved.
Concept and texts: Verena Pfeiffer-Kloss
Concept and project management: Linus Lütcke
Speaker: Frank Arnold
Photos: Ludger Paffrath
Design and technical implementation: 3pc GmbH Neue Kommunikation