Whose Kulturforum?
Transportation before architecture: that was the original thinking behind the design for the Kulturforum as a site for museums and cultural institutions. On the new Potsdamer Strasse, whose sweeping arc epitomised the new ideal of a “car-friendly” city, two new cultural buildings were constructed in the 1960s: the Philharmonie (opened in 1963) and the Neue Nationalgalerie (opened in 1968). These were gradually joined by the Kunstgewerbemuseum, the Kunstbibliothek, the Kupferstichkabinett, and finally, the Gemäldegalerie. With the reunification of Germany, the Kulturforum suddenly found itself in the centre of the city. This put an end to the venue’s function as a display window for the art and culture of the West in the divided city. The Kulturforum, then still known as “Kemperplatz”, became a relic of a bygone epoch, while at the same time adding life to what was then a utopian point of connection between the old and new centres of Berlin.
A glimpse into the entrance hall at Kulturform, 1992.
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