Europacity

If you turn away from the government district at the main train station and head towards Europacity, you will see the undulating glass façade of the new high-rise building at Europaplatz – the headquarters of KPMG. It will be completed in 2023 as the third and last element of the city crown planned there as an entrance to Europacity. It is almost 10 years since the first building was opened there, the Tour Total by architects Barkow Leibinger. At that time, the area north of Berlin’s main train station was still a barren wasteland. Berlin’s urban policy and the requirements for new buildings and neighbourhoods have changed completely since then. The Europacity is therefore often disdained as a “dumping ground for concrete gold”. And yet it is worth taking a look at the many new buildings along Heidestraße, which, especially in the western part, boast bold large-scale forms and sophisticated architecture.