Scientific Papers Series B Horticulture

as Marcellus theatre or Trajan forum wasdoubled by a real development of Rome as apolycentric city, with new avenues andneighbourhoods but without any strong destructurationof the urban organism. It is alsoimportant to mention that all these visions weredeveloped by a commission formed ofspecialists like Manfredi, Giovannoni,Piacentini, Gerola and others, thus guarantyingthe quality of the future city (Vasilescu, 2011).As a result, today’s Rome, a result of theconfrontation between Mussolini’s totalitarianvision and the Citta Eterna, gained its pastwhile forging its future, both of them melted inan emblematic, unitary image (Vasilescu,2011). Rome cannot be imagined anymorewithout its antic monuments and noisy Vespasrunning in-between.Berlin, post-war and post-wallBerlin is a city that, despite its dramatic history,has reborn and despite the destructions hefaced, he became a blooming city, one that isappreciated both by its inhabitants, and byforeigners. The city’s memory was seriouslyaffected, not only once but by several hugepolitical projects that changed it forever.1950, when he also estimated that he will winthe war (Figure 9). In the centre, partially overthe river Spree, an impressive dome wouldhave been built, and it would have been namedVolkshalle, that in an approximate translationmeans The House of the People. Themonumental building, measuring 290 metershigh would have made the Reichstag a toyhouse, and it would have been used by Hitler tohold his speeches in front of more than 180.000people.” (Bisky, 2006)The project was however seized in 1943 due toAlly bombings. Thus, Berlin escaped from the“architectural demolition” just in order to beerased by the heavily bombardments.Another wave of demolition was deployed, inEastern Berlin, during the communist regime.The emblematic Berlin – Alexanderplatz(transformed in an international symbol byAlfred Döblin’s novel and mostly byRainerWerner Fassbinder’s film) was one of the mostswarming and fashionable urban spaces of the19 th century Berlin (Figure 10). The day-life,around the Hermann Teitz commercial centre,and the night life, around the restaurants andbars, was equalled only by the Potsdamer Platz(another space that was wiped off and replacedwith a sort of mall-complex).Figure 9. The Albert Speer Plan" - HitlerOne of the most important reconstructionprojects for Berlin, in order to transform it in asymbol of power, was lead by Hitler, togetherwith his “personal architect” Albert Speer.Hitler wanted the destruction of a vast part ofthe historical Berlin in order to build his centre.“Hitler never appreciated Berlin, he saw thecity as dirty and too liberal, and he wasdisgusted by the political orientation of itsinhabitants. In consequence, trough Speer, thefuehrer wanted to transform the capital in hisvision and he estimated that he will finish by356Figure 10. Alexanderplatz in 1906, foto: Max MissmannDuring the 1960 es Alexanderplatz was rebuilt inthe new, modern but socialist-realist style. Thusit was transformed in a huge – out of scale –pedestrian area, seen by the communist regimeas the new, modern, ideologically adapted cityheart (Figure 11).After the unification a new reconfiguration ofthe space was proposed. Some skyscrapers arestill waiting for the construction while a new