One of the major differences between a major American city and a European one is the size of its buildings, and the German capital of Berlin is no exception to this visual mark. Sprinkled in among the historic buildings with decades, or even centuries of back story, are modest architectural additions that don’t really scream “we are newer and better.” Though some city developers have long had the dream of changing all of that for the city’s central square known as Alexanderplatz, and after 25 years of contention, plans to turn the area into a bustling city with high reaching skyscrapers are moving one step closer to reality.
“Things could start moving very quickly”
German news site The Local reported on the sudden new life to this decades old project on Monday, citing Berlin Senate construction director Regula Lüscher who is responsible for this future development of Alexanderplatz. “Things could start moving very quickly,” Lüscher said of the Senate’s new push to move the 25-year-old plans forward.
The vision planners once had for the space in the early-90’s will naturally have to be scaled down as some of the buildings originally planned to be replaced with skyscrapers are now historically protected landmarks. Though plenty of space is still up for grabs and preliminary approvals have already been granted for a few projects.
Berlin purists will undoubtedly continue to object to the modernization of the city’s skyline, so expectations of an overnight transformation are very low. The Local does have more of the backstory on the entire project from its 1993 inception, which I highly recommend for anyone concerned over the historic city expanding into the skies.
