Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BERLIN'S 'SEXY' NEW MALL
The opening of a new shopping centre usually elicits yawns but not
Bikini Berlin
(
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
;
www.bikiniberlin.de
;
Budapester Strasse 38-50; 9am-9pm Mon-Sat; Bahnhof
Zoologischer Garten, Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten)
, Germany's first concept mall. It opened
in 2014 in a spectacularly rehabilitated 1950s architectural icon nicknamed 'Bikini' be-
cause of its design: a 200m-long upper and lower section separated by an open floor,
now chastely covered by a glass facade.
The breezy mall occupying the lower three floors of the vast structure is primarily
the domain of urban boutiques stocked with edgy fashion, design, tech gadgets and
accessories, many made in Berlin. Look for fashion and accessories by Andreas
Murkudis, eyewear by Mykita and vegan clothing by Umasan. On the ground floor,
wooden pop-up stores can be rented for short periods and thus offer a platform for
up-and-coming creatives to test new ideas, concepts and products.
Even if shopping leaves you cold, come for the spectacular interior, an industrial-
flavored showstopper with exposed-steel girders, concrete walls and a huge panor-
amic window with front-row views of the Berlin Zoo's monkey enclosure. A wooden
staircase leads to a huge rooftop terrace with sweeping views over the entire zoo and
the Tiergarten.
