Hackesche Höfe and Hackescher Markt, Berlin

As I attended the conference Intercarto Intergis 12 (2006) in Berlin, we were very lucky to have a nice conference organizer, Mr. Horst Kremer, who took us to many interesting places in Berlin as a local guider. I was struck by the Hackesche Höfe (Hacke’s Courtyards), which is located just at the Hackescher Markt (Hacke’s Market) at the subway station stop with the same name. It is the No. 1 sightseeing in Berlin from the locales’ viewpoint. Usually for the tourist, Brandenburg Tor and the others might be more famous worldwide. So I missed the courtyard, as we visited Berlin in 2003 for the first time.
What’s the special that makes the “Berliner” so proud of their Hackesche Höfe? It must be easy for each Chinese originally from Shanghai, if I say Hackesche Höfe is just another Xintiandi (新天地). There must also be similar places in other cities in China.
Hackesche Höfe contains 8 courtyards in all. The façades are diverse and colorful. Diversity is shown in the different façade building material ranging from mosaic bricks to common bricks, in the different colors used in one façade. This wall is in blue and white, while its neighbor wall is in orange. The architectural style is also a mixture. The German architect August Endell is an Art Nouveau architect who also studied philosophy and psychology. This expertise and academic backgrounds are quite special for architects. Maybe, this is why his design can still attract so many people 100 years later. Hackesche Höfe was opened in 1906. The idea is to have a common outdoor salon for many companies, clubs, as well as residential parts in this building complex. So people can share the courtyards to get certain atmosphere to have some events in common. This idea is still advanced, like many lofts in the office-shopping buildings and Xintiandi. It also proves that advanced ideas are based on the modernism principle “form follows function”. Since the courtyards are for the sharing purpose, they should have the versatility to meet preferences of enterprisers, businessmen, artists, and habitants. August Endell also applied Neo-baroque roofs and Egyptian Obelisks. However, at my first impression, Hackesche Höfe has the Art Déco style, though Art Déco was in fashion nearly 20 later than it was built. Maybe I was just impressed by the vertical lines on the façades.
Hackescher Markt has a longer history with the first document about 1672. It was a new center for barn areas in old Berlin. Later on, it developed to a commercial center with many Jew residents. After the World War II, it lost its prosperity in East Berlin, though it has been a German cultural heritage piece since 1972. The renovation work started in 1993 after the reunion of Germany. Since then it is a favorite place in Berlin with restaurants, cafés, galleries, workshops, and still flats. The immobile price in that area also becomes one of the most expensive areas, Just like Xintiandi.
There are still some differences between Xintiandi and Hackesche Höfe. Hackesche Höfe has just succeeded its original use function after the WWII and DDR break, while Xintiandi was redesigned to create such an entertaining environment with the old Shikumen (石库门 or “stone gates”) which was original designed only for living. It was stated in Wikipedia that Hackescher Markt was once Marx-Engels-Forum. But I don’t think. It is true that Xintiandi has an important historic memorial building in the neighborhood. Both have many new elements after the renovation. I assume some glass façades in Hackescher Markt might not be from 1906, but be built lately.

Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin

I am very glad that several of my best friends are coming to visit me this year. The first group – Ah-V and her family, my best friend I made since I was born, are coming by the end of August. I am motivated to update my blog by writing some city sightseeing. So I start with Berlin, one of my favorite cities in Europe, which Ah-V will visit. This afternoon I video phoned my best college friend Sheep, who has just arrived in Philadelphia as a visiting researcher at the Pennsylvania University. She is going to Washington, D.C. to visit our common best friend in the coming days. One stop must be I. M. Pei’s East Building of National Gallery of Art. I am jealous of her and would like to recap my visits to German History Museum in Berlin.

Deutsches Historisches Museum is located at a corner and a little hidden from the Boulevard Unter den Linden, as an extension of the existing museum building in new classical style after German Reunion. It should be the first architecture of 贝聿铭 in Germany. I discovered it by chance as I visited Berlin for the first time, because it could be recognized at first glance. The museum was already closed at that time and I went there additionally on the other morning and took a lot of non-digital pictures then. The common elements that Mr. Pei uses in most of his architecture are exposed in a more elegant way. It is a small museum in comparison to Mr. Pei’s other museum designs and is just located on a small street. So it is difficult to take a photo of the whole view from the narrow street. However, it does highlight its uniqueness and elegance. Mr. Pei applies a glass spiral cone at the building entrance which gives the simple geometry building some smartish flavor. Inside it is just a small rest area for visitors who can also experience the orchestrating of light and shadows in sunshine. The indoor space is free flowing with escalators, staircases and flyovers. The front huge curve glass walls make a composition of light and shadows on the concrete slabs and walls. Concrete slabs are indispensible in order to project the light and shadows from the transparent glasses. So it is somehow boring to construct buildings with only glasses or with only concrete slabs. Light and shadows make the architectural experiences changing at different daytime.

Triangle motif is one of favorite elements of I. M. Pei, which is repeated in this museum to enhance the flowing ambience. Besides, a large circle opening is used together with the flyovers, which is quite traditional Chinese. It symbolizes completeness and perfectness. Thus, the circle opening as well as the smooth glass and wall curves are re-lived by the triangles everywhere on the one hand. On the other hand, they smooth the potential visual conflicts caused by the triangles. Mr. Pei is good at using contrast. However, visitors can feel a kind of modesty and amiability and close interaction between human and architecture. The architectural details are elaborated as well. For example, the handrails are engraved in the concrete walls, so that no other material is needed. The pureness, the simplicity, and the delight make German History Museum a masterpiece of modern architecture indeed. If Berlin is visited, a visit to the museum is worthwhile.

Ludwig-Erhard-Haus, Berlin

Berlin is getting to be one of the most modern cities in Europe. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Berlin became the competition arena of renowned architects worldwide. I have not had any architecture excursions in Berlin. I took some pictures during my private and business trips and it could be nice to have some reviews in my blog.
In the most recent trip, I attended the LMC conference which was held in the Ludwig-Erhard-Haus (LEH) at Fasanenstrasse, near to the subway station of Zoologische Garten, the former central railway station of West Berlin. Ludwig-Erhard-Haus designed by the British architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw was built from 1994-1998. It is opened to host conferences and other events related to economy. The economic issue is stressed, because Ludwig Erhard in his ministry as a federal chancellor first combined social economy and free market economy, which led to great economic progress in post war in Germany. It is also located beside the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce.
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw used to apply ellipse forms and curves for his architecture. LEH is featured with 15 steel beams in ellipse forms and large glass windows. There are two inside courtyards which collect sunlight for the building. Beside the courtyards six elevators are used as the main vertical transport means, because the steps are somewhat hidden, narrow, and inappropriate to the architectural scale. So you can always see awaiting people in front of the elevators. Fortunately, there are six fast elevators. There are also many irregular halls with columns in the middle of the space, so that only part of the room could be used for presentations. Electricity sockets are often missing for laptops in each room of such buildings nowadays.