Thoughts on Architecture
Berlin is up near the top on the list of my favorite cities in Europe. There is such a great sense of history surrounding the city and you can feel the weight of it as soon as you arrive. It is a city that is slowly discovering it's post-WWII and post-Cold War identity and that is very clearly seen in the architecture. Weight is a key word when describing the architecture of the city. The traditional architecture of Berlin's past is very grand and imposing. Hundreds of years of history, both good and bad interpreted through the architecture. The past is a heavy burden to the city of Berlin.
The residents of Berlin have seen the worst of the wars in Europe in the 20th century. It was almost completely destroyed in World War II and literally split in half during the Cold War. The city was only whole again in 1989 when the wall came down which makes modern-day Berlin relatively young. Everybody knows the legacy of Germany after World War II but because of that current residents of Berlin are very open-minded and progressive. Nobody wants to make the same mistakes of the past and the architecture today tells that story.
Modern-day Berlin is a city who's scars have been patched up by progressive architecture. You can never forget the past but you can use it as a foundation to build a better future. The Reichstag (Parliament) building is a perfect example of this. Like most buildings in Berlin, it has a heavy past to carry. An arson attack on the Reichstag in 1933 can be seen as an important event in the creation of Nazi Germany. In the aftermath, the Reichstags Fire Decree was passed into law at the request of Hitler which suspended most civil liberties in Germany. Today, the Reichstag is a symbol of Germany's democracy and it's views on modern architecture. The picture above was taken inside of the glass dome which was built on top of the building in 1999 by acclaimed architect Norman Foster. It represents a reunited Berlin but more than that it shows how architecture projects the mentality of the population around it. Based on this, the future is good.
Every time I go back to Kuala Lumpur, it changes. I only get to fly back there maybe once a year in the summer and never for more than two or three weeks. No matter where I end up in this world, I always will know that Malaysia is ultimately my home. It is where I'm from. Though every time I go back there, I can't help but to feel like a tourist. Kuala Lumpur is a city that is constantly evolving, always moving. I can barely tell where it starts or ends. There is an endless stream of construction and new buildings seem to pop up every day. Once again, the architecture of where the city's place in history is.
Malaysia is a relatively young country, only gaining her independence from the British in 1957. It is a multi-cultural nation made up of various ethnic groups and religions. It is also difficult to ignore the influence that the British had on our culture. Western values are mixed in with our Asian heritage. Kuala Lumpur, the capital, represents these ideals clearly. It's a city in which you can see an ultra-modern shopping mall built literally around a Hindu temple. Old mosques and churches stand side by side under the shadows of towering office buildings. Small and mobile stands sprout open every morning on the street to serve food next to expensive French restaurants. It's a city of contrasts and contradictions. It is my city.
The first time I saw the Petronas Towers, once the tallest buildings in the world, I couldn't believe how huge it was. It almost seems impossible when you are standing at the bottom looking up. Designed by Argentine-American architect Cesar Pelli, it represented our financial strength at a time when most of our neighbors were feeling the burden of recession. Despite being a foreign architect, Pelli took great care to incorporate aspects of our culture within the design. The form of the building, a 12-vertex star, is a prominent image in Islamic art. Of course, there are taller buildings today but I have yet to see one that represents the culture of the city that surrounds it better than the Petronas Towers. It will always be my favorite skyscraper because in many ways, it represents me and everybody that comes from Malaysia. It is our architecture.
