HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > Found City Photos


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #21  
Old Posted Nov 25, 2007, 5:37 AM
BTinSF BTinSF is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco & Tucson
Posts: 24,088
I think in order to assess the quality of Speer's work, you have to try to look at it from a 1930's point of view. I'm not saying that makes it any better, but that's the context in which it should be evaluated.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22  
Old Posted Nov 27, 2007, 6:54 PM
Grumpy's Avatar
Grumpy Grumpy is offline
Honored Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,338
In the 30's it was a huge idea for a great metropolis in terms of population.
Always wondered if WW2 didn't happen what would this city would have been nowadays.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #23  
Old Posted Nov 27, 2007, 10:19 PM
staff's Avatar
staff staff is offline
low life in a tall place
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Singapore.SG | Malmö.SE
Posts: 5,546
Wasn't Berlin one of the largest cities in the world prior to WWI?
If it wasn't for the two world wars, then Berlin would probably be of similar size as London and Paris today, at least. Probably more, considering the population of Germany, and the fact that it assumably wouldn't be as decentralized as today if it weren't for all the shit that happened during the 20th century.

I'm glad Berlin is still one of the greatest cities on the planet though.
__________________
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #24  
Old Posted Nov 27, 2007, 10:48 PM
CGII's Avatar
CGII CGII is offline
illwaukee/crooklyn
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: rome
Posts: 8,518
i really like speer's work. if i had to conced one thing to hitler it's that he had good taste in architecture.

what i really like about speer is how well he molded classical forms to modern practices.
__________________
disregard women. acquire finances.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #25  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 10:37 PM
Dream'n's Avatar
Dream'n Dream'n is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Twin Cities
Posts: 626
I think the allure of what might have been is that if this model of Berlin had come to fruitition it would be seemingly like having a modern day Rome. Maybe not quite the ornateness but certainly the grandness.
__________________
I ain't got time to BREED
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #26  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2007, 11:04 PM
BTinSF BTinSF is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco & Tucson
Posts: 24,088
^^^Except I think the Rome you are envisioning was a myth. The actual Rome had the well-known grand public buildings and it did have rudimentary, if toxic due to the lead pipes, systems of water and sewers but was otherwise pretty squalid. Have you seen the TV series "Rome". I think they got it pretty close. Of course they were dealing with the first century and the number of grand buildings peaked much later, however I don't think the lifestyles of the not-so-rich or famous improved much.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #27  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2007, 4:35 PM
Bergenser's Avatar
Bergenser Bergenser is offline
Information Age
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Bergen, Norway
Posts: 2,890


Berlin was probably one of the biggest cities in the world back in the late 1930's.
Considering only Europe had "Huge" cities at that time.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #28  
Old Posted Dec 17, 2007, 11:41 PM
The Dear Leader's Avatar
The Dear Leader The Dear Leader is offline
Lovable dictator
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Where I live
Posts: 3,597
If anyone wonders about the spike in the late 1910s, that can be explained by the fact that Berlin expanded in 1920 (Groß-Berlin)

Berlin before 1920 (dark red), after 1920 (pink):

Reply With Quote
     
     
  #29  
Old Posted Dec 18, 2007, 3:47 AM
10023's Avatar
10023 10023 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: London
Posts: 21,146
Quote:
Originally Posted by staff View Post
Wasn't Berlin one of the largest cities in the world prior to WWI?
If it wasn't for the two world wars, then Berlin would probably be of similar size as London and Paris today, at least. Probably more, considering the population of Germany, and the fact that it assumably wouldn't be as decentralized as today if it weren't for all the shit that happened during the 20th century.

I'm glad Berlin is still one of the greatest cities on the planet though.
I think that's possible, but not certain. And I point point to Rome as an allegory. Berlin and Rome are smaller than London or Paris because Germany and Italy weren't united as nation-states until the latter half of the 19th century, while London and Paris had been the capitals of major powers for centuries.

One could argue that the events of the 20th century prevented Berlin from becoming another Paris (and if Germany had won the Second World War, it would have been at least that big). But Italy wasn't as badly ravaged by the wars, and Rome still shares importance in Italy with other cities that were capitals of Italian kingdoms in a way that London and Paris do not. I think Berlin would certainly be bigger without the World Wars, but it wouldn't have come to completely dominate Germany. Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne (and the Ruhr generally), Stuttgart... there are just too many urban centers and historical capitals in Germany.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #30  
Old Posted Dec 18, 2007, 3:27 PM
MolsonExport's Avatar
MolsonExport MolsonExport is offline
The Vomit Bag.
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Otisburgh
Posts: 44,722
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bergenser View Post


Berlin was probably one of the biggest cities in the world back in the late 1930's.
Considering only Europe had "Huge" cities at that time.
Yes, it was. But Europe was not the only place with Huge cities at the time. New York City already was the world's largest city in the '30s. Tokyo ranked up there as well.
__________________
"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."-President Lyndon B. Johnson Donald Trump is a poor man's idea of a rich man, a weak man's idea of a strong man, and a stupid man's idea of a smart man. Am I an Asseau?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #31  
Old Posted Dec 18, 2007, 5:04 PM
Border City Boy's Avatar
Border City Boy Border City Boy is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: South Detroit
Posts: 510
Berlin is a very interesting place to visit. I spent a week there in the fall of '06. When you get a chance to see some of the Third Reich architecture up close, you realize how imposing and monumental it was all designed to be.

The Air Ministry Building is still standing and in use (it's now the Ministry of Finance I think) and the Olympic Stadium as well. Seeing the massive structrures up close, I got the feeling that they were all made to make you feel small and insignfigant.
__________________
---------------------------------------------------
.: http://internationalmetropolis.com :.
~> The Best of the Border Cities
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #32  
Old Posted Jan 1, 2008, 7:55 PM
Grumpy's Avatar
Grumpy Grumpy is offline
Honored Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,338
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dear Leader View Post
If anyone wonders about the spike in the late 1910s, that can be explained by the fact that Berlin expanded in 1920 (Groß-Berlin)

Berlin before 1920 (dark red), after 1920 (pink):

The odd thing is that the built-up surface of today isn't visible on the map above so any comparaison is impossible.
A huge part of the city are green & wet areas.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #33  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2008, 8:02 PM
Grumpy's Avatar
Grumpy Grumpy is offline
Honored Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,338
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy View Post
Near the "Gleisdreieck" there is still a huge concrete cylinder to be found to test the enormous weight of the proposed superdome.
Here is that cylinder:

Reply With Quote
     
     
  #34  
Old Posted Sep 27, 2008, 12:15 AM
Paul Andrews Paul Andrews is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 1
I hope someone can answer this question concerning the Grosse Halle Interior
picture on a couple of other other sites it is mentioned the that the eagle along with the pedestal and just the right shadowing gives an illusion in the form of Hitler’s face and is believed designed to appear only at a particular time of the year. If you look at the picture it's pretty obvious that it must have been Intentional and not a coincidence.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #35  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2008, 9:15 AM
Grumpy's Avatar
Grumpy Grumpy is offline
Honored Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,338
Could you post a picture please?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #36  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2010, 8:43 AM
airportparking airportparking is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Munich/Germany
Posts: 10
Nice post... interesting !

Thank you very much.........
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #37  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2010, 2:01 PM
Phil McAvity Phil McAvity is offline
BANNED
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Victoria
Posts: 3,618
Quote:
Originally Posted by MolsonExport View Post
Yes, it was. But Europe was not the only place with Huge cities at the time. New York City already was the world's largest city in the '30s. Tokyo ranked up there as well.
I think Moscow was a pretty important city at the time too, although if the guy's original point was that Europe had most of the major city's, he's right.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 10023 View Post
Actually, it would have been pretty spectacular. I've seen a book of plans before.
No kidding. Berlin would have been incredible. Now if only the allies hadn't have fucked everything up by winning that war.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #38  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2010, 3:49 PM
FrancoRey's Avatar
FrancoRey FrancoRey is offline
Stay Thirsty.
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 2,835
Yeah. The Neues Berlin was a grand and awesome vision. I also have mixed feelings about what it would have meant to have been completed.

All the rising dictator or totalitarian states had these kinds of schemes in the 30's. Stalin's Moscow, Mussolini's Rome, Hitler's Berlin. What magnificent cities they would have been. Obviously the means to get there and the states behind their grandiosity were abhorrent, but it was an extremely interesting and exciting time to be an ambitious architect or city planner. These kinds of 'Urban Meccas of Civilization' or massively whole-planned cities is an idea that will probably never be seen again. In this sense, World War II and the Cold War drastically altered the direction and trends of city building in Europe. It has definitely been pushed more in the direction of sporadic zoning and minimal architecture, favoring utility and practicality over beauty and design, in many cases.

Looking at some of the benefits and pitfalls of our modern day urban counterparts in Europe, was it for better or for worse?
__________________
Denver's getting infill like it's 1999...
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #39  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2010, 9:00 PM
Wrightguy0's Avatar
Wrightguy0 Wrightguy0 is offline
All aboard the Failboat
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Saint John NB
Posts: 389
i for one think the trend towards minimalism was for the better, all of these plans were, inhuman in scale, they exalted the power of the state, while at the same time emphasizing the insignificance of the individual lost among the vaulted rooms and towering corridors, a mere afterthought to the design.

smaller. more personal minimalism lets the individual form his own impressions and express the space via his own imagination, in the grand master plans the only impression he has is what the state dictates by constructing such massive structures.
__________________
I'f I had a nickel for every time someone presented me with a good idea, well, I'd have a nickel
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #40  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2010, 10:22 PM
someone123's Avatar
someone123 someone123 is offline
hähnchenbrüstfiletstüc
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 33,677
To me the plans have always looked juvenile, along the lines of modern-day construction projects in the Middle East. Coincidentally, there are a lot of other similarities between these regimes.

I don't see a lot of architectural innovation. In fact, this looks like more of a regression from some earlier German architecture. The big dome looks genuinely ugly to me. Stalin era Soviet construction was similar - designed to give peasants an impression of state power.
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > Found City Photos
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 3:31 PM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.