Threatened architecture

April 3, 2006 12:11 AM

Postwar architecture of Berlin. Photographing architectural icons before they disappear. Some I kind of like. Some I don't. Others, I just don't know what they were thinking.
posted by tellurian (27 comments total)

nice stuff, but i far prefer the one you don't like to the one that you do.
posted by setanor at 12:33 AM on April 3, 2006

This one looks like it's from an RTS.
posted by Zombie Dreams at 1:25 AM on April 3, 2006

I thought it was a sandcrawler. Anyway, it's well armed.
posted by jfuller at 1:59 AM on April 3, 2006

Are you sure you didn't mix those links up? I'm with setanor
posted by vaportrail at 2:07 AM on April 3, 2006

These buildings are practically brand new! Why do they look so much more decrepit than this one, which is 700 years old? They all must have been built out of used kleenex.
posted by jfuller at 2:11 AM on April 3, 2006

This one looks like it's from an RTS.

It looks like something you'd commute to in this.
posted by Ryvar at 2:53 AM on April 3, 2006

No, I didn't mix the links up. That building looks like something the Stasi would take you to. The Sputnik Cinema on the other hand reminds me of some of the Googie masterpieces.
posted by tellurian at 3:38 AM on April 3, 2006

Very cool. There are really some monstrosities there (like ugh.. this or this or this on the other hand don't strike me as particularly vile, but I'm probably used to much lower standards than the Germans)

So these are all buildings that are already scheduled for demolition, right?
posted by funambulist at 4:41 AM on April 3, 2006

ooh, they're planning to turn this into a book
posted by funambulist at 4:46 AM on April 3, 2006

funambulist, I like the one in your "ugh" link!
posted by brundlefly at 4:57 AM on April 3, 2006

seriously? oh well, different strokes and all that :)

To me it sort of looks like an eagle that attempted suicide and failed. The poor bird folded its wings and plunged towards the ground, but its beak got caught in the concrete, and it's now forever trapped there like that. It needs to be freed!

seriously, what is it? just a sculpture? what's Straßenmöbel? Lüftungsschacht?
posted by funambulist at 6:17 AM on April 3, 2006

Mother of God, this one just floors me in it's oppressiveness. Great post.
posted by Scoo at 7:02 AM on April 3, 2006

Some of these make The Gobbler look like the Taj Mahal.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:21 AM on April 3, 2006

Postwar Germany was one big community college?
posted by geoff. at 7:39 AM on April 3, 2006

funambulist: apparently some sort of air vent (subway?)
posted by tippiedog at 7:53 AM on April 3, 2006

Willkommen auf urban brutalism.
posted by Pollomacho at 8:14 AM on April 3, 2006

Ooh, I love stuff like this. Thanks, tellurian. I'm surprised by how much some of these buildings look like something you'd find in the run-down industrial/warehouse bits of downtown in my city.
posted by WidgetAlley at 8:21 AM on April 3, 2006

It looks like something you'd commute to in this.

Seriously, Ryvar, what the hell is that?
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:10 AM on April 3, 2006

It's used for strip-mining coal in Germany.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:02 AM on April 3, 2006

Also, it can transform into a giant mech if necessary.
posted by Cironian at 11:03 AM on April 3, 2006

thanks to all posters refering to our project! sorry that it's german only. but google translates it quite nice... YES, we're doing a book and search for subscribers.
if we get 500 of them in the next months, we'll do it (german/english, in professional translation I promise). Some details in english are on our flickr account. Thanks again for your heavy attention.
posted by restmodern at 11:49 AM on April 3, 2006

Umm, is it ever sunny in Berlin? Every picture I've seen it appears gloomy and overcast.
posted by MetalDog at 2:45 PM on April 3, 2006

Are you sure this is post-war architecture? Compare Bildung #4 vs. Bismarck: I'll take the the battleship. Many other buildings look like shell-riddled WWII bunkers.

Perhaps it's just the grey skies, but most feel heavy and oppressive.
posted by cenoxo at 10:23 PM on April 3, 2006

Welcome, restmodern!
posted by tellurian at 10:46 PM on April 3, 2006

Toll!

Und restmodern, herzlich Wilkommen! Hoffentlich koentest du hier en Bisschen bleiben.
posted by scarabic at 2:44 PM on April 4, 2006

Crap crap crap. This is donpedro on scarabic's computer, accidentally posted that as him. Dood, if you see this, sorry about that.
posted by scarabic at 2:46 PM on April 4, 2006

See, i dont necessarily think the Cathedral looks any more decrepit than the various post-war concrete stuff, at least not in any of these pics. A building is not just a building, and you cant judge the cathedral by the same standards that you judge a movie or an apartment building or a sucessful open heart surgery.
posted by JohnnyK at 6:51 AM on April 6, 2006