Breitscheidplatz

As plazas go in Berlin, this one has a lot of good and a fair bit of bad.

The good is the size of the space and the traffic that wanders through, The bad is the serious lack of soul and warmth, and a church from the modernist era that really does not do justice to the ruin it accompanies.

The Plaza: A place where many paths cross, transit brings the masses and shopping and street kiosks do everything possible to provide the shopper with places to spend money. The Europa Center anchors the East side, providing a time capsule of 1980s cheesy architecture, a funky fountain and a generally lackluster facade taken up with (mostly) signs for the businesses that inhabit that space.

The Kaiser Church ruin: One really wishes there was more space around the tower so that it stood silent testament to the horrors of war, and the end result of an overwrought militarism. But no, there are these two carbuncles attached to it. One is locally called the 'pillbox' and in any other place would be pretty cool.

Actually, if he pillbox was alone, it would be acceptable... but no... it has a companion. A tower called locally called "the lipstick tube", and it has about that much character, It blocks a side of the broken tower, and thats a pity. And inside its base is a really tacky shop selling imported crap. Yeah, great way to honor the purpose of the church and the ruin. Fail. Entry into the ruin and church are free, as they should be.

The west side is mostly forgettable, as are the buildings on the north and south. This place combines amazing traffic with lackluster architecture to succeed in spite of itself. Its a place with people - lots of them - but go on a Sunday, when its almost empty, and see just how bland and uninspired that space really is.