Dieter Urbach, Großhügelhaus designed by Josef Kaiser, 1971, photo montage, copyright Dieter Urbach and Berlinische Galerie, courtesy Berlinische Galerie
Flattened in the second world war and then divided by the wall, Berlin had a huge construction boom in the sixties. Urban planners, architects and dreamers were called upon to design a new cityscape inspired by new beginnings and technological euphoria. Frequently described as unsightly by the casual passerby, important examples of architecture from this period are facing the threat of future demolition, and that’s if they haven’t been torn down already. “Radically Modern: Urban Planning And Architecture In 1960s Berlin”, one of four exhibitions that marked the reopening of the Berlinische Galerie, puts these architectural visions in the political context of this time in Berlin’s history.
Although the gallery has been closed for all of ten months, the renovation is not so visible to the naked eye: if you liked the building before you will still like it now (you can rest assured that the sprinkler, fire alarm and acoustics system is now bang up to date.) In a stand alone exhibition at the front of the gallery stands Björn Dahlem’s site specific installation ‘Mare Lunaris’: a space ship, maybe built to travel back in time to the unrealised futuristic city that is shown in the next rooms along.
Georg Kohlmaier and Barna von Sartory, Rollende Gehsteige on Kurfürstendamm, 1969, image collage, copyright Georg Kohlmaier, courtesy Elisabeth von Sartory and Berlinische Galerie, reproduction by Markus Hawlik
The exhibition, as a detailed research project, has excelled. The cold war cliché is outweighed by a huge amount of material that hasn’t been shown before together, explained through plans, sketches, models, photographs and what can only be described as mood boards. The exhibition shows clearly the differences in the political systems on either side of the wall, and the competition between the east and west at the time.
Many of the objectives and social visions for the Berlin citizens went unrealised. One that was fully constructed is and still standing and still in constant use is Tegel Airport. The 1960s architecture is described as a ‘drive-in’ airport, and the concept’s main objective is to allow passengers the quickest and shortest way from the entrance of the airport to the aircraft. The building’s exterior hexagon shape is echoed in the airport’s interior decoration, which has been meticulously considered to reflect the shape of the building. For example, the Berlinische Galerie is showing the original seating from the airport, think a mustard yellow honeycomb of chillout space — which, in the context of the gallery, of course, became a selfie hotspot for the opening night.
Heinz Lieber, Panorama Alexanderplatz,1972, Photograph, copyright Rechtsnachfolger Heinz Lieber, reproduction by Kai-Annett Becker
Radically Modern, installation view, Neue Nationalgalerie, photo by Marlen Mueller, courtesy Berlinische Galerie
The 3D models throughout the exhibition are incredibly mesmerising, including one of the National Galerie by Mies van der Rohe. Surrounded by photographs of the building in its pre-Postdamerplatz setting shows Berlin rebirthed as a newly green city, all that flat ground that had been bombed turned into parks and open spaces.
Germany’s capital is currently going through a period of extensive architectural change, with several large projects under construction in the city. Throughout “Radically Modern”, it’s hard not to think of today’s Berlin, where the demand for affordable housing is equally strong, and yet, there is a grassroots feeling against redevelopment by commercial investment. As we look back on the equivalent housing of the Sixties, in the context of a gallery show, we might ask ourselves how the perception of today’s high rises will change in coming years, and whether what is ugly now will take on brand new meaning as the context of the history around it changes.
Text by Victoria Gisborne-Land
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