Random impressions from a recent visit to Berlin. The city never ceases to impress, in one way or another. Since leaving Berlin, I´ve lived in Chicago and presently live in Vienna. Both cities have very pretty general aesthetics and architectural highlights, Berlin on the other hand has a hard time pleasing the visitors eye. But dig deeper and the reward will arise.

Here are some additions from a series I didn´t include into the previous two parts. Abandoned places in the middle of the city. Property and housing prices have risen dramatically in recent years calling for more regulation of the agressive market, thus claims of the remaining few development sites have seemingly opened a fight for ideological concepts. But how scarce is land for new housing projects really? Walking around many districts in December revealed many open plots and stretches of land that seem to be waiting for development. Yet it´s not always clear to see whether land or abandoned buildings are privately or communally owned. In conclusion I have the impression that Berlin still has a lot of potential in many of its districts. It´ll be interesting to see how things will move in the near and medium term future.

This office building is right along the Spreekanal in Berlin-Mitte. Don´t know

whether it will be demolished or polished, either way it´ll

most likely be another office building. 

This was a retirement home-to-be until the building process was halted.

The new investor lets it rot for a reason, annual increase in value is 10 %.

A former sports hotel near a training academy in rural Berlin.

The stairs to nowhere in an abandoned congress hall.

The following pictures are of the same congress hall.

People still live in this former communal home complex. It is one of

only a few unrenovated buildings in the popular residential

district of Berlin-Weissensee.