“Berlin: The Politics of Order, 1737 – 1989” by Alan Balfour

 

269 pages, Rizzoli, ISBN-13: 978-0847812714

The history of the architecture of Berlin can perhaps be boiled down to the desire to impose order from above, rather than to let a city grow organically, a conflict that would affect the city to the present day. In Berlin: The Politics of Order, 1737 – 1989, Alan Balfour shows that the buildings and monuments of Berlin reflect this conflict, of a city that was born of autocracy – order – feuding with a populous that wanted a city that reflected their needs – democracy.

Thus, we have King Friedrich Wilhelm I imposing a top-down rationality on his medieval capitol when he had three gates built in 1737: the Brandenburg, Potsdam and Hallesches Gates, which forced all future builders to follow the plan of the first. All of the big names are here: Friedrich Gilly, K.F. Schinkel, Erich Mendelsohn, Albert Speer, Mies van der Rohe, James Stirling, Peter Eisenman and their impact on the landscape of Berlin.

Covered as well are the political, socioeconomic and architectural backgrounds of the era in which they lived and worked and how it all affected the physical space they builders were working with. If one is not well-versed in the visual language of architecture then I’m afraid that the images within will seem ever-so esoteric, at best (at least, they did to me). But stick to it, for the message within is as interesting as it is enlightening.