Tor 149

The house is a conciliatory gesture towards the emotionally-charged atmosphere of Berlin’s ongoing stylistic discourse on nostalgia versus experimentation. The design of Tor149 neither neglects nor emulates historic heritage and urban context but instead attempts to be a continuation of Berlin’s story. Above all, it presents a possible vision for a home of the future in Berlin.

Instead of a classical façade, where the stucco relief is symmetrical about the centre of the frontage, the prismatic relief of Tor149 is twisted to the east. Located at a slight bend in the Torstraße, this produces a visual effect in which the building seems to “look” in both directions. Coming from east, the effect of the triangulated surface is sharp and narrow, but approaching the building from Friedrichstraße, it seems wide and sharp. From one direction pedestrians experience the building as being be contemporary and transparent, from the other as fitting into the closed frontage of historical Gründerzeit buildings.

Tor149 makes a new contribution to the planning of Berlin’s public spaces by referring to tradition and addressing a desire for solid urban identity, as well as by bringing fresh, futuristic building back into the cosmopolitan city.