Giorgio Grassi, primer premio

The third of the major competitions promoted by private initiative is the one organized by the Asea Brown Boveri consortium for the 16,500-square-meter strip of land it owns, between Linkstrasse and Kothenerstrasse, where the Potsdamer Banhof stood before World War II. In Hilmer & Sattler's initial proposal, the Linkstrasse - which converges on the trident of the Potsdamer Platz as a fourth axis - was widened and turned into an arm of the Landwehrkanal with a large side boulevard, and the building was resolved by seven U-shaped blocks of 50 x 50 meters open to the Kothenerstrasse. In a later reworking, the first two blocks, closer to Potsdamer Platz, turned inward, forming a semi-enclosed block, adjusted to the alignment and topped by a cylindrical body. On the other hand, the narrow lake of the Linkstrasse disappeared, leaving the strip corresponding to this street converted into a linear park. The main conditioning factor of the area is the transport system, consisting of a subway line and a suburban line, which runs along its central axis, buried in part of its route. Although the area to be developed by ABB corresponds to the first five blocks from Stressemanstrasse onwards, the competition included the development of the entire block...[+]