Kheng Hong Ly

Week 4 - Imagining the city

Full Draft Essay: Interim Submission #2

● Topic/theme: Imagining the city

● City: Berlin, Germany

INTRODUCTION:
Rethinking the urban landscape does not necessarily have to focus on the concept of ‘ideal city’ but instead
embraces what the city has to offer in the present and future from its past. Through the context of drifting, the
modern experience merges with the historical landmarks which becomes a reminder of the history for the
drifters. With the reference to maps of Berlin, the continuous contemporary installations of their historic
monuments make up their identity and become a comforting reminder, shedding a light on how its history
shaped its present. Majority of the time, ideal cities fail to consider the occupants' needs but instead what the
architects want in which it’s catered entirely to their interpretation as opposed to coming up with a
compromise - to build a third city for Berlin in which the East and West can grow together. The dialogue
discourse between these multiple authors with different perspectives towards rethinking the city will be
examined through the context of Berlin.

PART A: IDEA AND ARGUMENT

Architects’ vision of rethinking the city comes through numerous conceptual approaches along with various
aspects of ideal cities within the built environments. Lynch points out that the city depends on five significant
elements intertwined together that build up its distinction and attracts the passerby. Along the line, Lysons
and Morgan emphasise on the significance of history acknowledgement by overlooking the face value of a
location and instead question the history of space. Similarly, William Neill argues through the context of Berlin
that walking and being lost helps explore the experience of modernity through the contrast of old and new
monuments in which ‘a city of ruins’ is placed together with ‘a city coming into being’. While Rosenau agrees
that ideal cities should shift their focus to the social aspects of the inhabitants, Fishman points out that
although the ideal cities were not successful as planned, they serve as blueprints that can be further
determined by the future generations. Wigley, Nieuwenhuys and Sadler critically oppose the fixated concept
of ideal cities, suggesting the New Babylon’s social and urban approach as an opt which gives inhabitants
the authority and be the architect of their own space. The essay shares the same scope with those three
authors through the context of Berlin. Similar to New Babylon, Berlin moved away from being a fixated city
segregated by east and west into a reunified city rich in diversity and history. Agata Lisiak points out that
despite the reunification of West and East Berlin which shifted the city’s spatial structure into desirable
development areas for investors with the aim of encouraging social reintegration within the city, there still
might be visible dividing lines between both parties. Berlin was a city of segregation in which it was divided
by a wall and limited social interaction in the worst way. After the reunification, people gain freedom and the
gentrification occurs, however, the rebuilding of urban space after the fuse might cause residents from two
different cities to feel forcefully merged together.

PART B: IMAGE AND ARGUMENT

Through the notion of drifting, the once-familiar city becomes defamiliarized in which it encourages drifters to
experience both the nostalgia of the past along with the experience of modernity. Tying back to Lysons and
Morgan’s emphasis on significance of history acknowledgement by overlooking the face value of a location
and instead question the history of space, Berlin’s juxtaposition of old and new monuments and installations
hope to create a symbolic representation of reconciliation, peace, unpack of truth and acknowledgement
rather than being as blaming a certain party. On top of the map from Figure 1, images of Berlin’s most
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Week 4 - Imagining the city

landmarks are overlaid with the modern installations of it saturated to argue that till these days, old
monuments are still used other than tourist attractions as a ‘comforting monument’ that makes the
passersby rethink about what happened there (Lisiak, 2018). The map from Figure 1 intends to blur the
boundary between Berlin’s history and the present, emphasising on the concept that Berlin is a constantly
changing and developing city that still has remnants of its past everywhere. It overlays the map from 1789
in which Berlin was still a smaller city along with the 1961-89 map that depicts the dividend of Berlin
between Soviet, French, British and American sectors which can be told as part of the hue of red,
yellow, green and blue. Apart from that, there are also symbolic collaging pieces such as scaffold in
which it represents Berlin in a way that it is constantly changing and progressing. The doves on the side
symbolises peace and reconciliation. Graffiti, on the other hand, portrays both sides of opinions of the
unification - opposition to the gentrification from the reunification and the emerging city. Overall, the map
supports the argument that Berlin is not a fixated city like the ideal city but is rich in history and diversity,
showcasing how Berlin’s traumatic past portrays its diversity and history that shapes its current urban
planning.

Figure 1: Cartography of Berlin - an ever changing city of the old and new.

PART C: IDEA, IMAGE AND ARGUMENT IN DIALOGUE

Architects’ vision of rethinking the city has to consider the occupants' social needs, acknowledgement of the
city’s identity and history and the flexibility for change and development. Across the texts regarding the
concept of ideal cities, the majority of city planners failed to turn into reality due to the concrete and fixated
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Week 4 - Imagining the city

plans and lack of consideration to the user’s social needs. Towards this concern, Neill pointed out
Hoffman-Axthelm’s Planwerk Innenstadt, in which the view of planning revolves around compromises that in
regards specifically to Berlin - to create a third city that allows both West and East to grow together (Neill,
2001). Berlin’s development present today is a result of the constant reimagining that erases the segregation
in the past and unifies the two sides together, physically and emotionally. Another concern is related to the
notion of monuments in which they are always there for tourist attractions and as a historical landmark. As
Lysons suggests, drifting allows the observer to engage more with the city and its history rather than being
distracted by the influence of technology nowadays as well as disclosing the trauma of the urban landscape
(Lysons, 2017). Tying this back to the map, another approach is implemented as a pattern across most of
those historical landmarks. Till these days, they are still used as a platform to remind people once again the
history of the city leading up to today. Their monuments are always there, people pass by too often that it
becomes forgotten. Sometimes what a historical city needs is the mixture of contemporary installations that
would light up the history once again.

CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, to improve social and psychological integration of a city, compromises must be made and to
reestablish the history and identity of a city, historical landmarks have to be reused as a reminder from
generation to generation. With the idea collaged within the map, it depicts Berlin as an ever changing city
that is still thriving to move forward while still having remnants of the past. Throughout the essay, key urban
theorists with different visions for reshaping the city architecturally have been examined and discussed along
with the city of Berlin. Reimagining the city in the context of Berlin indicates the city’s growth that shifts away
from the suppression of wall and mental division towards a city that reunifies and symbolises peace, freedom
and reconciliation.
 Kheng Hong Ly
Week 4 - Imagining the city

Bibliography:

Fishman, Robert. “Urban Utopias.”, Readings in Planning Theory, 3rd ed, (2012): 27–40.

Lisiak, Agata, Cox, Reece, Tienes, Flavia M., and Zbinovsky Braddel, Sophia. "A City Coming into Being",
no. 5-6 (2018): 877-93.

Lynch, Kevin. "In The Image of the City: The City Image and Its Elements", (1960): 46-90.

Lysons, Siobahn. “The City-as-Palimpsest: A primer on ‘psychogeography’”, Foreground (2017).

https://www.foreground.com.au/culture/the-city-as-palimpsest-a-primer-on-psychogeography/.

Morgan, Fiannuala. “What lies beneath: reading Melbourne's CBD through 'the another view walking trail”,
PAN: Philosophy, Activism, Nature no.12 (2016): 69-80.

Neill, William J.V, & Schwedler, Hanns-Uve. “Urban Planning and Cultural Inclusion”. In Urban planning and
cultural inclusion: lessons from Belfast and Berlin. (2001): 24-41.

Nieuwenhuys, Constant. “New Babylon: An Urbanism of the Future.” Architectural Design: A.D. 71 (3),
(1971): 12–14.

Rosenau, Helen. "Foreword", The Ideal City: Its Architectural Evolution in Europe, (2007): 12-16.
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/detail.action?docID=1112497.

Sadler, Simon. “Formulary for a New Urbanism & Unitary Urbanism.” In The Situationist City, (1998): 69-118.

Wigley, Mark. “The Great Urbanism Game.” Architectural Design: A.D. 71 (3), (1971): 8–11.