Architecture's Role In Berlin's Revival

"In the years that Berlin has been claimed as a united Germany's capital, it has become a mecca for the world's architects, who have taken up the unique challenge of creating a modern European metropolis, complete with an embassy district, government buildings, cultural institutions and corporate headquarters."

"Ironically, today the former East Berlin houses many of the city's trendiest neighbourhoods. Even the West Berliners are envious. But in the nearly 30 years that the wall was up it created two distinct cities, divided then as much by their politics as by the style of their urban development."

"Rebuilding the city has had to take this to heart. And as Verlag points out, what makes architecture in Berlin stand out is not least its effort to reconcile history with the present."

"You see it in the city's new additions: Norman Foster's glass cupola atop the Reichstag parliament building; the glass- enclosed spiral staircase addition to the National Museum. The old and new versions sit side by side, commenting on each other. The most common element is the use of natural light. Even the new station is a glass structure, revealing its platforms, while allowing the traveller to see the landscape outside."