Designing Dystopia
Michael Wesely uses pinholes cameras to record the light during periods of time of several years. He thus represents the city’s evolution during this same period of time, particularly evocative when it is the reconstruction of the Potzdamer Platz (which used to be a no-man’s land due to the wall) in Berlin or the MOMA renovation by Yoshio Taniguchi.
The main building alone is 1.2km long, wrapping halfway around the airfield. It is astonishing that the building, even when empty, is free of the oppressive feeling of fascism. In many ways, it is the ultimate Nazi building that formed part of Hitler’s plans for Germania, a capital of the Third Reich to be built on top of Berlin. The capital was to be built on two axes. The first axis would have run south from a new Great Meeting Hall which would have been built next to the Reichstag and been 10 times larger than St Paul’s in Rome. A boulevard would have connected to a huge railway station, and been punctuated by a massive victory arch marking the junction with an eastwest axis. This boulevard would have led to Tempelhof.
As it is, Tempelhof was the only part of the plan that was built, its hangars and gates arranged in a huge span that forms the wings of the building. In plan, the building is a very Nazi-looking eagle. Flight has only been part of Tempelhof’s purpose. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the site was used for military exercises by the Prussian and German armies, and as a parade ground for infantry and cavalry units. Its aeronautical use came at the beginning of the 20th century. Later, Hitler combined the two roles. The building’s roof is effectively a tribune from which aeronautical displays and great spectacles of marching could be viewed.
It should be a ‘crushing’ experience, as Hitler intended. But it isn’t. This may partly be due to the speed with which it was built, under the direction of Ernst Sagebiel. Ground was broken in 1936 and 18 months later the roofing ceremony was celebrated. When it was finished, the complex included 49 separate buildings, seven hangars and 9,000 offices. (via Blueprint Magazine - Architecture & Design)
Japanese Engineers have found a way to convert traffic vibrations on bridges into power to illuminate the bridge.
Life before artificial light, by Jon Henley
What was life like when candles and oil lamps were all we had to light our cities with? Dangerous, definitely, but never dull, says Jon Henley
