Weekend Part 1: Saturday

So Saturday, the students all did their own thing, and so only Mr. Puljak and myself went wandering to various places in the former west.

First, we went back to the Akademie der Kunst, to see a few exhibitions that we did not have time for the other day.  No pictures, but I can say it was a really good exhibition on a structural engineering firm.  We are recommending that all the architecture students go back sometime this month and experience it.

We then went to the "Zoo" area for lunch.  It was threatening rain (and occasionally dropping some), so we sat under a large awning and had some authentic German comfort food.  I has a large bowl of potato soup with 2 sausages and a chunk of bread:

And Karl had a fond memory of his Austrian heritage... an entire leg of pig with potatoes and sauerkraut!

Despite their relatively similar size in photos, they were decidedly not!  Karl could not finish his, even with a little help from me.  But they warmed the belly for the afternoon's adventures.

KaDeWe
One of the oldest and largest shopping places in Germany.  Saying this is a department store is like saying an ostrich is a bird.  It is true, but does nothing to communicate the radical difference in scale you are experiencing.  We will be taking the students here later in the trip, but for now a simple description; it takes up an entire city block and is eight stories tall.  Anything you might want in an average to exclusive price range.  The entire 6th floor is devoted to gourmet foods.  I think I counted 10 different  coolers devoted to smoked meats, coded by country of origin; and another 2or3 coolers just for sausages.  Here is one:

Now imagine that kind of inventory applied to cheeses, wines/spirits, candies, fish, olives, etc.  It was all a bit overwhelming; we will need many hours there again sometime(s) to take it all in.


AEG Turbine building
So we went in search of the AEG Turbine building by Peter Behrens.  Built in 1909, it is an enormous industrial building, now sitting a bit incongruously on the edge of a neighborhood in the northern part of Berlin.

The form is more subtle than most architecture history books generally convey.  The corners are fully rounded, and the heavy concrete walls slope slightly, creating an interesting shadow rhythm with the vertical walls of glass.  Hard to capture in photos.

And a detail of the steel frame connection at the base:

Hallen am Borsigturm
We then went to a new shopping center further north in the city;   With the quick increase in population and importance created by relocating the capital of Germany back to Berlin a decade ago, a large number of mega shopping centers were built around the city.  This one is in a converted industrial area, where they have gutted a series of long halls, built a new glass form where one was missing, and covered the entire thing with an undulating steel and glass roof.  Three levels inside, with your standard shopping variety, including a TK Maxx (not a misspelling), and McDonalds, as well as a full gym, a movie theater, and a bowling alley.

In an oddly surreal experience, the promenade contained this sight:

Yes, that is a large sculpture made from beach sand, dedicated to the memory of Michael Jackson.  As I type this I realize that I did not get the whole thing; I am missing Bubbles sitting over in the right corner mourning his fallen master.  And that is where I must end Saturday's story.