54 // CONSTRUCTIVE COLUMN BY ANDREE BOCK Being brave enough to fill the gaps . <strong>The</strong>re are many things that single out a tourist. A camera – it’s not just the Japanese who have one permanently slung around their necks – <strong>as</strong> well <strong>as</strong> the puzzled look at the city map, or the fact that they always manage to find the most expensive cafés with the worst service because some landmark or other is a stone’s throw away. In <strong>Berlin</strong>, taking a quick look off the beaten track is enough to discover some really good alternative landmarks. <strong>Berlin</strong> could never be accused of being rich, but it w<strong>as</strong> always extravagant. Taking a second look at the city will reveal a luxury that few other cities have: striking gaps in the city sky<strong>line</strong>. Open brownfield sites that have been made secure with a length of tape and which nobody seems to want to use. While in other cities, you see one shopping centre after another, in <strong>Berlin</strong> you often see – nothing. Air where otherwise there would be concrete. An empty space where otherwise there would be hectic activity. Gaps only show up in the context of fullness. We are so used to looking at the many splendid buildings, at the Brandenburg Gates of this world, at all the majestic boulevards with their palatial buildings, which shout centuries-old secrets at us, that we no longer hear the quiet murmur of the empty spaces. <strong>The</strong>y whisper to us soundlessly, these spaces. Stories of a city that you won’t find in any guide book. This visual stillness can be incredibly inspiring for those whose ears are not yet completely blocked with a mix of schmaltzy 80s super hits and today’s concrete highrises. <strong>Berlin</strong>, which h<strong>as</strong> been reinventing itself for the p<strong>as</strong>t 20 years, offers the freedom and space to build independent ide<strong>as</strong> from scratch. Only in a city with gaps can ide<strong>as</strong> be created of how best to fill these gaps. A few years ago, an architecture student undertook a thesis which looked at the brownfield sites in the city and how they could be used intelligently until a permanent use w<strong>as</strong> found for them. He provided a very simple solution: two normal garden sheds from the garden centre which were joined together in such a way <strong>as</strong> to create a wooden house with two rooms. <strong>The</strong> architect then anchored the first house (with its roof pointing downwards) to the ground using a solid concrete foundation and built the second wooden hut – the right way up this time – on top. After he joined both rooms together and furnished it according to his own t<strong>as</strong>tes, he w<strong>as</strong> left with a living space for one person that cost little more than 10,000 euros. This is the point where the sceptics amongst you will <strong>as</strong>k where the electricity and water come from and whether it is safe and warm and so on. All good points. But this architect had the guts to see beauty in a gap. Where others saw warning tape, he saw the edge of a garden. Where others dumped their rubbish at night, he put a garden chair during the day. <strong>The</strong> good news for everyone who likes bad news: the project w<strong>as</strong> never realised. Too expensive, not profitable, too unusual. And so today the brownfield site is used <strong>as</strong> a car park. But every time I walk p<strong>as</strong>t, I imagine what it would have been like to see wooden huts all over it and my head fills the gap with a smile. It doesn’t take much to be happy, <strong>as</strong> a children’s song once said. And sometimes, it takes nothing. // IMPRINT PUBLISHER - ALPINE Holding GmbH Marketing & Konzernkommunikation Alte Bundesstraße 10 · 5071 Wals / Salzburg · Austria Phone +43 662 8582-0 · Fax -9900 · inside@alpine.at www.alpine.at EDITOR IN CHIEf - Andre<strong>as</strong> Eder EDITORIAL STAff - Ines Schmiedmaier DESIGN / ART DIRECTION - Florian Frandl AUTHORS fOR THIS ISSUE - Andree Bock, Andre<strong>as</strong> Eder, Marion Hierzenberger, Michaela Hocek, Ingrid Krawarik, Michael Kriess, Claudia Lagler, Melanie Müller, Marina Pollhammer, Ines Schmiedmaier, Benedikt Schreyer CONCEPT & ORGANISATION - Marina Pollhammer PICTURE CREDITS - Bureau of <strong>Shanghai</strong> World Expo Coordination p. 36 // Claudia Leopold p. 7-9 // Christian Forcher p. 1, 2, 14-18 // Christopher Klettermayer p. 29-30 // H.-P. Kretschmer p. 28 // Alexander Vorderleitner p. 33 // EOA p. 36 (Pavillon) // ÖVBB p. 55 // istockphoto.com/airspeed p. 46 (<strong>Berlin</strong> Wall remnant) // istockphoto.com/AlexKalina p. 5 (steam room) // istockphoto.com/archives p. 19 (republikpal<strong>as</strong>t) // istockphoto. com/archives p. 41 (Motion Blur of High Speed Train on Railway Tracks) // istockphoto.com/aryos p. 35 (Four Asteroids) // istockphoto.com/barol16 p. 47 (Schnitzel with baked vegetables and rosemary) // istockphoto.com/bernotto p. 34/35 (China <strong>Shanghai</strong> Pudong sky<strong>line</strong> at sunset) // istockphoto.com/ chrisgramly p. 24 (Woman relaxing in infinity pool) // istockphoto.com/CoolestMovies p. 19 (More Cowbell) // istockphoto.com/ craftvision p. 25 (Girl in Sauna) // istockphoto.com/dinadesign p. 5 (water drops on gl<strong>as</strong>s #3) // istockphoto.com/DomD p. 22 (Crowd of People Celebrating) // istockphoto.com/DrRave p. 27 (Cow on the road, India) // istockphoto.com/ecliff6 p. 44 (Checkpoint Charlie) // istockphoto.com/EmiSta p. 52 (dandelions taraxacum // officinale) istockphoto.com/erlucho p. 47 (Big Pool) // istockphoto.com/fotofrankyat p. 48 (Kuhportrait auf der Alm mit Weitwinkel) // istockphoto.com/fotoVoyager p. 45 (Green man Brandenburg Gate) // istockphoto.com/gremlin p. 42/43 (Cityscape) // istockphoto.com/Hajohoos p. 37 (Standing on gl<strong>as</strong>sground) // istockphoto.com/heather_mcgrath p. 19 (Spy with Target) // istockphoto.com/hsvrs p. 44 (<strong>Berlin</strong> Cathedral at Museum Island) // istockphoto.com/Ingenui p. 44 (Alexanderplatz in <strong>Berlin</strong>) // istockphoto.com/inhauscreative p. 35 (Zipper) // istockphoto.com/JPecha p. 53 (Asbestos Warning Sign on Condemned Property Door) // istockphoto.com/khorzhevska p. 35 (stylization pin-up girl with lipstick) // istockphoto. com/kozmoat98 p. 50/51 (Oil Rig) // istockphoto.com/labs<strong>as</strong> p. 44 (Detail of graffiti. Art or vandalism) // istockphoto.com/ luoman p. 20/21 // (Crowd) // istockphoto.com/m-1975 p. 45 (Old Trabant in E<strong>as</strong>t <strong>Berlin</strong>) // istockphoto.com/miteman p. 27 (New Delhi landscape) // istockphoto.com/Nikada p. 5 (<strong>Shanghai</strong> Nighttime) // istockphoto.com/ongan p. 47 (chinese cups) // istockphoto.com/ooyoo p. 10/11 (Night Drive) // istockphoto. com/P_Wei p. 19 (Hard Hat And Leather Gloves) // istockphoto. com/prill p. 37 (gl<strong>as</strong>s of beer) // istockphoto.com/prill p. 37 (perfect gl<strong>as</strong>s of pils beer) // istockphoto.com/Raffaelo p. 19 (German Currywurst) // istockphoto.com/rfwil p. 44 (US Army Checkpoint) // istockphoto.com/ribeirorocha p. 53 (<strong>as</strong>bestos) // iStockphoto.com/RusN p. 50 (pebble pyramid) // istockphoto. com/tancor p. 38/39 (Twinkle) // istockphoto.com/Yana_B p. 52 (Dandelion) // istockphoto.com/Yuri_Arcurs p. 26 (Happy man getting m<strong>as</strong>sage at spa) // istockphoto.com/zennie p. 35 (World Globe China) // Restliche Bilder: ALPINE Bildarchiv PRINT - agensketterl Druckerei GmbH PUBLICATION - biannually - This is the English translation of the magazine. <strong>The</strong> German version of this magazine applies in c<strong>as</strong>e of any differences. - Typographical and printing errors subject to change. - Despite very careful preparation and production of this issue no responsibility can be taken for the correctness of this information and any liability by ALPINE Holding GmbH is expressly excluded.
Egg-Graben Bridge / AT PAGE 48
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