In this 48 hours in berlin send the design . After all, the German capital is since 2006 City of Design by UNESCO . Or what is the same, a paradise where inspiration oozes from every corner and with numerous places where the setting is just as important as the content.
UNESCO in Berlin itself says that it is “ a true hub for the creative industries ”, “a crossroads of diverse origins and histories, famous for its design tradition and its contemporary creations”.
It is not a trivial matter, in fact, to point out that the city hosts more than 5,000 design students or the celebration of important awards such as the IF Design Award , founded in 1953 and framed in Berlin Design Week.
Tchoban Foundation, Museum of Architectural Drawing.
In a city that constantly changes, that mutates, that evolves... always without forgetting a past that deserves to be walked through, a weekend getaway sure falls short. But do not spread panic. Time, well spent, always goes a long way. Although, at the moment the first thing to do is to leave the suitcases.
SLEEPING IN THE EMBASSY
Located in the former Danish embassy and with direct views to the Berlin zoo , the five-star hotel SO/Berlin Das Stue is an ode to good taste. contemporary art and furniture by Patricia Urquiola They slip between high ceilings, corners with history and a service of 10.
A hall where a giant crocodile welcomes the neoclassical building which houses what was the first luxury boutique hotel in the city, it is already clear that we are in a place with personality. This is confirmed by the selection of photographs, sculptures and designer furniture in common areas that you will not want to leave.
Entrance lobby of the hotel SO/Berlin Das Stue.
Past and present, sobriety and daring, as in Berlin itself, come together in harmony in this hotel of just 78 rooms , where, with a bit of luck, the room's terrace will have direct views of the immense green lung What is it tiergarten . If not, it will be city skyline , including the Brandenburg Gate, whoever says good morning.
Even if you want to stay all morning among your comfortable and colorful textiles It's time to get to know the city. Spa and two restaurants They wait for us when the day is over. By the way, the Spanish embassy is the neighbor of this hotel whose signature landed last year in Sotogrande.
Colorful tapestries feature in the rooms of the SO/Berlin Das Stue hotel.
BIKINI HAUS: A VERY ALIVE PAST
An easy 15-minute walk around the Tiergarten park leads to the first stop, a building complex listed as heritage and known as Bikini.
Wait here one of the few places that are preserved from post-war Berlin . The “Zentrum am Zoo” project was designed in the 1950s by the architects Paul Schwebe and Hans Schoszberger to shape you It was going to be the commercial area par excellence of the city.
In fact, in the late 1960s more than 60 fashion companies they had moved into the complex, but the arrival of the Wall led to a progressive abandonment. Today nobody would say it, because this space, rehabilitated in 2014, lives more than ever.
with the mall Berlin Bikini as the capital's new shopping epicenter, it is part of the 80,000 m2 project distributed in the four original buildings and a fifth unifier where there is also space for offices, restaurants, cinemas and even a hotel.
In fact, it is at the top of the 25 Hours Hotel Bikini where it is worth sitting down to eat.
The Bikini Berlin shopping mall.
EAT IN THE SKY OF BERLIN
It is without a doubt, one of the best designed restaurants in the city . Is named baby and it is an ode to green.
With 360º views over the city, the study of Werner Aisslinger decided to create a space that give continuity to the park . Hence the amount of plants and green that we will find inside this restaurant located on the 14th floor of the hotel.
Without forgetting the nods to the industrial air of Berlin, that rough and naked architecture translates into beams and minimalism where the impressive views are the protagonists. On the plate, an interesting menu with Mediterranean, Persian and Austrian influences where hummus, kebabs in the Jósper oven and Shawarmas make the palate fall in love.
View of Tiergarten from the Neni Berlin restaurant.
By the way, your outdoor terrace and its bathrooms These are two stops that every good sightseer should make before descending to Berlin soil again.
Back on earth, before leaving the area, it doesn't hurt to feel a brief chill at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.
Bombed during World War II, in the 1950s the decision was made to create a memorial to remember the senselessness of war with the remains of this neo-Romanesque temple built under the mandate of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Its peculiar aspect of a collapsed castle It gives it a special and melancholic charm among endless skyscrapers.
The collapsed Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.
ART AND CONTENT
To spend the afternoon there is no better plan than wandering around mitte , that historic center that combines jewels such as the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Alexanderplatz or Museum Island.
In the latter it never hurts to gossip what Temporary exhibitions accompany the treasures of the masses that make up the Museum Island. For example, until July 10 the Alte Nationalgalerie hosts ‘Paul Gauguin – Why are you angry?’, an interesting exposition that examines the artist's work in Tahiti by confronting it with historical documents and contemporary works by artists from the island of Polynesia.
And although it is not new either, delving into Sammlung Boros It's always a pleasure. this bunker The five-story building built by Karl Bonatz in 1942 on behalf of Aldof Hitler in the central district of Mitte is pure Berlin history. And pure secret art.
Sammlung Boros bunker.
From an air-raid shelter it became Stalin's secret service prison and then a banana warehouse . After comings and goings of all kinds, including an exceptional techno club, billionaire designer Christian Boros and his wife decided to buy the bunker in the year 2003 and make it his home.
Open by appointment only, inside awaits a gallery also known as the 'Art bunker' . With more than 700 private international contemporary art works of marriage, its 3,000 square meters and 80 rooms they are intended for display only.
Work by Katja Novitskova that is part of the Boros collection.
If you have time or if you prefer, the third point of contention on this museum afternoon is called KW Institute for Contemporary Art.
Founded in 1991, the Kunst-Werke Berlin (KW) found its headquarters in a old margarine factory abandoned to become an epicenter of the most transgressive artistic discourse at a national and international level. This June it will reopen its doors again to host the 12th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art.
TIME TO DINNER
Just a 20 minute walk, Nihombashi It is a gastro treasure that the locals know well. With interesting interpretations of Japanese cuisine where sushi is the protagonist , a few tables invite you to enjoy a asian delicacy where each chair It is a work of art.
In fact, its playful seats were exclusively designed by architects Peter Behrbohm and Yana Kyuchukova to match the microcosm of vibrant colors, clear lines and geometric shapes what is this little restaurant inspired by the Nihombashi Bridge in Tokyo.
The colorful Japanese restaurant Nihombashi.
Another interesting option in the area is KINK bar&restaurant. In this socio-cultural center opened in 2020 contemporary art, design and gastronomy they shake hands
Thought and born to experiment, this old brewery Dating from the mid-19th century, it showcases neon, vintage elements and contemporary design in three zones: a grand main room, a gallery and a window-wrapped glashaus.
Different levels to surrender to different pleasures, including a terrace where the cocktails will put the perfect final icing on the day . By the way, his garden is the second oldest in Berlin, from 1850.
One of Kink's spaces.
THE WALL WITHOUT THE WALL
The second part of this 48 hours in Berlin of pure design begins. And, how could it be otherwise, approach to the Wall it is something obligatory . But not just for giving in Eastside Gallery , but to the entire neighborhood of Kreuzberg.
Numerous restaurants await around Kottbusser Tor and Bergmannkiez she is famous for its thrift stores and specialty cafes.
In fact, the morning dose of caffeine is put into Bonanza Coffee Roastery , a functional space made of oak and glass where the grain is roasted and enjoyed in equal parts.
A simple walk leads to the neighbor Markthalle Neun , a market where street food coexists with fruit and vegetable stalls, a pasta factory, a tofu shop and even a small craft brewery.
Pure Berlin life in a space that has survived the war and the supermarket chains. In fact, the market was abandoned for decades and it was the neighbors who managed to rescue this jewel from the 19th century. Today it is one of the main attractions of the area.
Then it is his turn to return to art. Because they exist until 450 galleries in the city (with names as consolidated as Sprüth Magers , Eigen + Art or aurel scheibler ) and some 200 non-commercial rooms and alternatives.
In Kreuzberg itself, names like the Berlinische Galerie and its modern art, photography and architecture. or the interesting König Galerie , located in Berlin inside the Church of St. Agnes, cement and brutalist style.
Interior of König Galerie, located in the Church of Santa Inés.
Of course you can not ignore the museum Gropius Bau , a building that until 1989 was right next to the Wall and is named after its architect, a great-uncle of the well-known architect of Walter Gropiu yes Its impressive courtyard of lights functions as the center of the exhibitions and is a key stage to discover international names.
And if there is still time, Matthias Arndt was one of the first to open gallery in East Berlin , as soon as the wall fell. It is worth crossing to discover he gallery ARNDT Berlin.
FRENCH AIR
To make the stop of rigor the place chosen to eat Michelin star shines . Definitely Tulus Lotrek fall in love
In this restaurant, he answers the phonetic spelling of the French painter, his owners, the wine expert Ilona Scholl and the chef Max Strohe, capture his bohemian life in a beautiful frame of ceilings decorated with plaster , wooden floors, works of art and some original wallpapers.
In the kitchen, modern dishes with international elements in a tasting menu where you can try Norwegian prawn tartare with oyster emulsion and beurre blanc milk; sautéed turbot with spinach and genoise velouté sauce and fennel or baked stuffed morels with lavender syrup and salted butter.
BAUHAUS AFTERNOON
Although we have left it for the end, German architecture and design cannot be understood without talking about the bauhaus. The Barcelona chair by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, the tea infuser Marianne Brandt, the Baby Cradle of Peter Keler or the plans Walter Gropius They changed the rules forever.
The most complete work of everything related to this school that changed the world in the 20th century wait in the Bauhaus Archive , a complete museum located in a late work of the movement's own brain, Walter Gropius . Unfortunately, it is closed for renovation until further notice.
What is open is another icon of the city and a work of art by one of the most international representatives of the Bauhaus . We are talking about the Neue Nationalgalerie.
The Bauhaus archive.
The spectacular 65-metre square plate, supported only by eight slender exterior pillars, is a modern icon of Berlin and one of the great works of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
It turns out to be nostalgic to know that this was one of the last important commissions of the last director of the Bauhaus and the only European building that he designed after having to flee Germany with the rise of Nazism to power.
The afternoon, and the trip to Berlin, could only end discovering the recent remodel of this architectural landmark carried out by the British David Chipperfield.
Inaugurated in 1968, six years of meticulous remodeling have been needed for an almost imperceptible change but with notable improvements in this jewel with a transparent and steel façade. inside a granite clad plinth which, once again, is open to the public to fall in love with its modernist collection.
Otto Dix, Hannah Hoch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner either Paula Modersohn-Becker These are just a few names of the 1,800 works that make up this collection hidden in the basement.
An invisible reform has had the Neue Nationalgalerie.
EXTRA, EXTRA: SHOPPING
There is always time and desire to return with some souvenir than another. In terms of design, one of the most recommended stores by designers awaits in Kreuzberg. It's Voo Store, an old locksmith converted into a boutique and cafeteria.
Another essential name is Andreas Murkudis . This classic of the Berlin art scene as director of the Museum der Dinge (Museum of Things) design museum, has 3 shops where refined, unique and special products parade.
In Potsdamerstrasse waiting for the addresses in question. In Store 77 you will find, as if it were an art gallery, fashion or a selection of furniture and ceramics handmade that are changing. For its part, the number 81 is located in the former printing house of the Tagesspiegel newspaper and exhibits unique pieces of furniture. And neighbor number 98 is a fully furnished proto-apartment with high-end brands to draw inspiration from.
Andreas Murkudis shops.