| Quartier 206
O.M Ungers, Pei Cobb Freed and Jean Nouvel created the “Friedrichstadt Passagen” in the “Quartieren 205, 206 and 207″ as the first international building project of this scale in Berlin-Mitte. The Passagen boasts two underground parking levels and one shopping tier, while above ground nine-story high buildings rise up from street level. Despite the enormity of the building complex, the quarter still offers a cozy, close-knit array of working, shopping and living space in the city centre. |
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| Henry N.Cobb, partner of I.M. Pei architects (designer of the entrance pyramid in the Louvre and the extension of the Deutsches Historisches Museum), designed Quartier 206 for the Fundus-Gruppe. At night the house looks like an illuminated fold-up box. During the daytime its appearance is more subdued, and compared to its neighboring building Galeries Lafayette, with its polished marble checkered pattern and neo art-deco details, Quartier 206 reminds one of an American lifestyle. Here Anne-Marie Jagdfeld runs the “department store Quartier 206″. She broadened Berlin’s shopping world with the new luxury store. She offers her personal selection of flowers, perfumes, men’s and women’s attire with individual clothing items making up the core of her business. Those who come to Berlin for shopping should not leave out Quartier 206. The knowledgeable observer will appreciate the classy neighboring architecture. Jean Nouvel installed a glass facade to contrast Berlin’s usual stone doctrine. O.M. Ungers displays his usual squares, even in the door handles. The strolling shopper will also find the usual main high-street outlets in the area.
This historic quarter close to the Gendarmenmarkt was and is one of the most traditional and atmospheric places in Europe. People from all around the world met and still meet up here – business people, diplomats, artists and politicians. Here, art and cultural history were written in the Berliner Salons. Great philosophers, such as Voltaire, and writers, such as Heinrich Heine and E.T.A. Hoffman, resided at this location. Also, the most famous doctors of their time, like Virchow, Dieffenbach and Sauerbruch, performed outstanding tasks here. Most interestingly, many innovative ideas that changed medicine were born in this location. |
