I’ve just come back from a trip to Berlin- my first trip to the city. I loved that the city was brimming with a creative and cultural buzz, with museums, exhibitions, and art galleries, trendy coffee shops to refuel, edgy graffiti and grungy flea markets to explore. See below for my pick of things to see and do.
SEE:
Akademie der Kunste Hanseatenweg 10, Berlin
Situated on the site of the International Interbau Exhibition of 1957- which saw over 44 famous architects design a small community of homes, a church, cinema, cultural centre, and library- is an art gallery designed by Werner Duttmann. When we visited there was an exhibition curated by Matthias Sauerbruch of architecture practice Sauerbruch Hutton, showing architecture models of well-known buildings such as the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
Neues Museum, Bodestraße 1-3, Museum Island
It was the building’s clever restoration by David Chipperfield which brought us to this museum, and not its Egyptian collection. Costing over €200 million the renovation highlights Friedrich August Stuler’s original design, while adding more modern pre-cast concrete features.
Jewish Museum, Lindenstraße 9-14, Berlin
This Daniel Libeskind-designed museum is well worth a visit- it’s thought provoking and slightly surreal. There are cavernous concrete spaces that allow in a fraction of light from above, a meditative concrete garden and a chilling installation by Menashe Kadishman.
SHOP:
Do you read me? Auguststrasse 28, Berlin-Mitte
A lovely magazine shop in Mitte offering a vast selection of international magazines ranging from art, fashion, architecture, design, food and culture. There were some well-known magazines, but also some I had never heard of before. I could have spent hours in the blackened interior, sitting on an Eames chair, drooling over all the different issues.
RSVP Mulackstraße 14, Berlin-Mitte
A small but perfectly formed stationery shop displaying the most beautiful notebooks, fine paper and writing materials on a bespoke wooden bookcase. There was handmade cards, colourful masking tape and golden Japanese paper clips.
PRO QM Almstadtstraße 48-50, Berlin
A fantastic bookstore jam-packed with art and architecture books and design magazines. I literally wanted to buy the whole shop. The interior of the shop was also worthy of note- polished concrete floors, bright pink ladders and grey bookshelves.
EAT & DRINK:
The Barn Auguststrasse 58, Berlin
A chic, minimalist coffee shop and roastery, which prides itself on the quality of their coffee and the expertise of their baristas. They use a bespoke Synesso Hydra Machine and serve homemade cakes and sandwiches as well as speciality teas (which we were told to wait 5 minutes for to thoroughly brew). There’s no laptops or prams allowed, so you know you can experience an unrefined, peaceful coffee.
Oliv, Münzstraße 8 – Ecke Almstadtstraße, Berlin
Another trendy cafe with some lovely seats outside in the sunshine (weather depending). Lovely berry crumble cake, fresh mint tea, quiches and salads.
Vietnam Village Oderberger Straße 7, Berlin
Delicious and fresh Vietnamese food at affordable prices- they serve summer rolls, pho soup and stir-fry dishes, and cheap cocktails.
