Open Access

Silvia Malcovati, Ilaria Maria Zedda

• Since the 1950s, Berlin’s centre has been a laboratory for urban reconstruction. After the projects designed and built in the Berlin divided by the Wall between the 1960s and 80s and the ones designed after the reunification of the city in 1989, the central areas of the German capital are still today open construction sites and the subject of debates, competitions, and new projects. The paper deals with reconstructions of these central areas focusing on the interventions which concentrated on the relationship between history and new projects, considering the semantic difference that exists in the German language between Rekonstruktion – understood as the faithful reconstruction of something that existed before, either a building or a broader portion of the city – and Wiederaufbau – more generically, the new construction of a destroyed building or district. Our paper focuses on the urban debates and projects that have addressed Berlin’s central medieval and baroque districts since 1979. The text is structured in three chronologicalSince the 1950s, Berlin’s centre has been a laboratory for urban reconstruction. After the projects designed and built in the Berlin divided by the Wall between the 1960s and 80s and the ones designed after the reunification of the city in 1989, the central areas of the German capital are still today open construction sites and the subject of debates, competitions, and new projects. The paper deals with reconstructions of these central areas focusing on the interventions which concentrated on the relationship between history and new projects, considering the semantic difference that exists in the German language between Rekonstruktion – understood as the faithful reconstruction of something that existed before, either a building or a broader portion of the city – and Wiederaufbau – more generically, the new construction of a destroyed building or district. Our paper focuses on the urban debates and projects that have addressed Berlin’s central medieval and baroque districts since 1979. The text is structured in three chronological sections: 1970s-80s, 1990s-2000s and today. East and West are hereby analyzed in the same way, from a spatial and morphological point of view, without deeply delving into socio-political and administrative issues. By showing case studies that are representative of different strategies for reconstruction, with this paper we ask where the boundary between reconstruction and new design is and whether there are projects in which theoretical reflections on continuity with the past have been successfully translated into contemporary design. By expanding on the recent past of the reconstruction of Berlin’s centre, this paper raises issues and questions that are crucial for new projects.…