Berlin Apartments (Designpocket S.)

Ever since the "fall of the Wall", Berlin has witnessed an unprecedented surge in new and re-construction, particularly in the area around Potsdam and Paris Squares, where the Wall cut an enormous swath through the city's centre. Striking multi-billion dollar complexes built by corporations such as Sony and Daimler have helped revitalize Berlin, bringing it architecturally in step with the rest of the world. But alongside these monuments to capitalism, are equally exciting developments in the city's residential architecture. This book looks at a number of extraordinary living spaces designed by leading architects, featuring colour photographs, floor plans, descriptive texts and biographies of the designers. From new private houses that are as complex as they are luxurious, to the widely lauded and wildly creative gentrification of the drab, concrete blocks that once symbolized the stagnation of the GDR era, these private spaces reveal the insurgence of youthful energy, ideas and optimism of Berlin.