Architecture - Berlin - page 557

Government Quarter
The 1991 decision to move the federal government back to Berlin resulted in a flurry of
building activity in the empty space between the Reichstag and the Spree River. Designed
by Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank, and arranged in linear east-west fashion, are the
Federal Chancellery, the Paul-Löbe-Haus and the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus. Together
they form the Band des Bundes (Band of Federal Buildings) in a symbolic linking of the
formerly divided city halves across the Spree.
Overlooking all these shiny new structures is the Reichstag, home of the Bundestag (Ger-
man parliament), the glass cupola of which is the most visible element of the building's total
makeover, masterminded by Norman Foster.
The glass-and-steel 'spaceship' on the northern riverbank is Berlin's first-ever central train
station, the sparkling Hauptbahnhof designed by the Hamburg firm of Gerkan, Marg und
Partner and completed in 2006.
More Architectural Trophies
In Kreuzberg, Daniel Libeskind's deconstructivist Jü disches Museum (1999) is among the
most daring and provocative structures in the new Berlin. With its irregular, zigzagging
floor plan and shiny zinc skin pierced by gash-like windows, it is not merely a museum but
a powerful metaphor for the troubled history of the Jewish people. Libeskind also designed
the museum's extension, which opened in a nearby converted flower market in June 2013.
Near Gendarmenmarkt, along Friedrichstrasse, the Friedrichstadtpassagen (1996) is a trio
of luxurious shopping complexes, including the glamorous Galeries Lafayette, that hide
their jewel-like interiors behind postmodern facades.
Across town, in the City West, several new structures have added some spice to the rather
drab postwar architecture around Kurfu ̈ rstendamm. The Ludwig-Erhard-Haus (1997), home
of the Berlin stock market, is a great example of the organic architecture of the UK's Nich-
olas Grimshaw. Nearby, Kleihues' Kantdreieck (1995) establishes a visual accent on Kant-
strasse by virtue of its rooftop metal 'sail'. Noteworthy buildings along Ku'damm itself are
Helmut Jahn's Neues Kranzler Eck (2000) and the Neues Ku-Damm-Eck (2001), a corner
building with a gradated and rounded facade, designed by Gerkan, Marg und Partner and
festooned with sculptures by Markus Lüpertz.
Another highlight is David Chipperfield's reconstruction of the Neues Museum (2009) on
Museumsinsel. Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, it beautifully blends fragments from the original
structure, which was destroyed in WWII, with modern elements. The result is so harmoni-