Berlin: A City Awaits by Neil Mair & Quazi Mahtab Zaman

Author:Neil Mair & Quazi Mahtab Zaman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030514495
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Fig. 4.8Completed Hansa Quarter

Just as newspapers and advertising campaigns had been employed to exploit the promotional potential of Stalinallee, Pugh (2014) contends that the West similarly considered the experience of the Interbau1 exhibition to be of propagandistic value. To this end, a series of unique installations, including an exhibition crane, was developed, to afford attendees a birds-eye view of the project (Fig. 4.9). A tramway was also installed (Fig. 4.10). This idea of the construction site as a tourist site is one, which would resurface after reunification. However, in contrast to the East’s preoccupation with the criticism of Western capitalism, the West never forcibly labelled the buildings of the Interbau exhibition as democratic or capitalistic. Instead, they were referred to as progressive symbols of freedom and humanism. Can it be said that it was the focus on the experience of the new development rather than on the political forces, which led to its creation, which meant that the West was more successful in bolstering public approval than its Eastern counterpart? Architectural historian Castillo considers this to be the case, acknowledging that, “rather than coercing, soft power entices” (Castillo 2010, p. xi).

Fig. 4.9Interbau’s “exhibition crane”

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