Revitalising and reconstructing historic urban centers is a formidable task. Perhaps nowhere is this challenge more acute than in central Berlin, where war and politics have repeatedly damaged the architectural and social fabric of the city. An Urban Experiment in Central Berlin features the development concepts and building designs for just one of these disrupted areas: Potsdamer Platz, the Times Square of pre-war Berlin and was probably the largest site ever developed at one time within an existing city center.

Before World War II, two adjacent plazas known as Potsdamer Platz and Leipziger Platz formed the transportation and commercial hub of Berlin. Here, regional and city railroad lines converged, and Europe's first traffic signal directed automobiles and trolleys past some of Germany's most significant works of commercial architecture. Hotels and giant department stores adjoined government and private offices, all complemented by countless restaurants and bars. It was a meeting place "where the nation's most powerful shopped and socialised in an easy mix of financial and political power."

This thriving district was laid waste during World War II by British and American bombing and by the Russian army's effort to capture the nearby Reich Chancellery. Much of the site was cleared through urban renewal efforts after the war and the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 completed its transformation into wasteland.

When the Wall fell in 1989, civic and business leaders seized on this historic opportunity and quickly began efforts to reconnect the city. The city government chose to divide the area into four parts, each to be sold to a commercial investor, like Daimler-Benz and Sony, which then planned new construction. In 1991, sixteen European architects submitted design concepts to the government-sponsored competition for the Potsdamer Platz site.

The largest of these four parts went to Daimler-Benz, now part of Daimler-Chrysler, who charged Renzo Piano with creating a master plan for the new construction. The individual buildings were then built by many individual architects according to that plan.

The whole project was the subject of much criticism from the beginning, and still not everyone applauds how the district was commercialised and replanned. However, the plaza now attracts around 70,000 visitors a day, and some critics may be surprised by the success of the new quarter. At almost any time of the day, the place is alive with people. It is a popular attraction for visitors, having a top shopping area.

For Potsdamer Platz turbulent and unruly history

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