The continuous combination of historical architecture and avant-garde architecture that you will find during your Berlin visit has one of its greatest expressions in the DZ Bank building.
This is located in the paris square (Pariser platz), where the Brandenburg Gate It opens towards the main axis of the city, the Unter der Linder avenue.
Outwardly the DZ Bank building It will not catch your attention, and you will be surprised to know that it is one of the most outstanding works of the prestigious architect Frank Gehry, the same one that designed the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, or the curious Prague Dancing House.
When after the fall of Berlin Wall The urban remodeling of the surroundings of the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin authorities established very strict rules so that the area could recover the configuration and architectural aesthetics prior to the Second World War.
These guidelines marked a very austere façade design in which the succession of vertical windows prevailed, the complete opposite of the daring aesthetics of the ghery architecture.
Therefore, when designing the DZ Bank building, which ended in 2000, Gehry reserved his great aesthetic contribution for its interior.
Gehery's Whale Tail
This way, when you find yourself in the paris square, do not hesitate to enter the sober and official banking building, from whose lobby you can see its famous whale tail. What is it about?
Inside the building there is a large covered patio five stories high, at the base of which is the surprising auditorium, which you will already recognize as a work by Gehry.
Thus, the conference auditorium, which is known as the whale tail, is an original architectural structure almost 30 meters long and 12 meters high, covered by an original elliptical glass structure.
In short, a curious visit that I recommend you should not miss during your walk around the area. Brandenburg Gate en Berlin.
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What a shame I didn't know, I was in Berlin a month ago and of course I didn't see it nor did the guide tell us anything.
Write it down for the next trip to Berlin 🙂
I had no idea this existed! And it didn't come in my Berlin guide!! ¬¬
A really curious corner that you have to look for, since it cannot be seen from the street :-))