5 questions with Mr. Federico Ferrari, author of Living in Berlin

 

How did the idea for this book?

The book was brought by 24 hours culture, in view of the fact that I have been a part of my research for doctoral thesis in Berlin and I lived there several times for several months.

What it means to live in Berlin?

I think it means, at least at this time, before the situation is "normalized" as is inevitable, the opportunity to be in a unique condition: that of a city full of symbols and history at the same time projected into the future like no other. For this rich stimuli and also uncertainties and contingencies. But without the uprooting some 'alienating many contemporary megalopolis, which I believe to reach its peak in the cities of Asia which, overwhelmed by a strong expansion. Certainly also interesting and challenging, but if the dynamism of Berlin is not so violent and confusing. This is a very strong force and perceptible, but at the same time reassuring, allowing everyone to find their size. I think the real strength of Berlin and the inconsistency and heterogeneity. As I wrote, its "porosity."

What image in the book has hit the most?

I think the most important projects are those in more central areas, where the comparison with the surroundings is as inevitable as more challenging. One of the most interesting in this regard is that of Joerg Ebers in Augustrasse 26. The point here is how to get the Committee up to a lot of very small and confined between two existing buildings, the most difficult challenge for an architect, interior flooded with light through large openings, which at the same time make the front a game of squares and rectangles offset. A similar principle is also found in another building in the book: the house of Busman Haberer in Pappelalee 21. In this case, the expedient of rectangular forms arranged freely on the front is more pronounced, particularly through the use of color and larger apartments.

What is the misconception about Berlin?

Berlin is a typical German city. As also in the case of other urban German stereotype of Germany as a country and icy "cold" is often wrong, for Berlin is totally out of place. Or rather, maybe Berlin is the extreme contradictions inherent in the soul of the German, who often live a constant tension between a markedly northern inevitable and irresistible attraction for the Mediterranean. Berlin embodies the best of this bipolarity: it is both Prussian - orderly, efficient, compact - and southern - broken, lively, full of "gaps", ie opportunities. But perhaps this affects the extreme proximity to the Slavic world. In short, Berlin is a melting pot identity, so it is difficult to describe in a synthetic image. Its strength is its ineffability.

What will your next book?

I deal with urban history and urban planning. For this reason Berlin is a case study very interesting and I intend to further deepen the knowledge that I derived from his attendance at a fairly constant in recent years. I plan also considered that next year will be a collaboration with the Institut d'Urbanisme de Paris, a publication about Paris and projects launched by Nicolas Sarkozi in "Le Grand Paris", a competition of ideas to imagine the future of the French capital.