Description

English edition. ISBN 9783775734745. In 1958 the United States presented West Berlin with a congress hall, a "beacon of freedom transmitting its rays toward the East," as its architect, Hugh Stubbins, defined his work. Today, the building houses the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, and the ideology of the Cold War has given way to the vision of a collective discussion of global issues. What role did the architecture play in this? What kinds of effects do buildings and lifestyles have on milieus, habits, attitudes, and morals? This publication is a collection of analyses, ideas, and literary narratives on the question of whether architecture can influence people, encourage them to pursue freedom, and empower them as citizens. Artists, photographers, architects, and writers grapple with the richly historical Haus der Kulturen der Welt, creating a concept of architecture that contrasts global tendencies toward uniformity with the charm of regional characteristics, with the support of texts written by Adalbert Stifter, Jenny Erpenbeck, Tom McCarthy, Haruki Murakami, Georges Perec, and others.