Berlin, eternal Bauhaus

More than fifteen years after the fall of the Wall, Berlin is still living amidst reconstruction sites. All along Unter den Linden, the most prestigious avenue in the city centre, pneumatic drills and workmen toil relentlessly. Since East Berlin inherited most of the historic centre 44 years ago, the renovation site was considerable; it is far from finished. With good grace, the most extensive metropolis on the continent has given itself over to its favourite pastime: urban experimentation, a characteristic of a city that has always cultivated a nonconformist tradition. From Potsdamer Platz to the embassy district, avant-garde buildings are springing up as if by magic. Even classic monuments such as the Reichstag, restored by Sir Norman Foster, and the Zeughaus, extended by Ieoh Ming Pei (the architect of the Pyramid of the Louvre), have been given a new lease of life.
Although Berlin has hardly any architectural homogeneity, it draws tremendous energy and creativity from its contrasts, which have for a long time been embodied by the alternative Kreuzberg district. Accordingly, the city's appeal lies as much in its collections of ancient art as in its futuristic skyscrapers, and in its historical monuments as much as in its old squats converted into galleries.