Critical reconstruction is a theory regarding the reconstruction of Berlin following the fall of the Berlin Wall; it aims to define the “central role of the city” and “invent the contemporary equivalent”.
Goals include a return to traditional urbanism, with building size limited to one block, and building codes that encourage development that mimics pre-war Berlin. Development schemes that preserve or restore pre-war street patterns are preferred. Stone and ceramic exteriors are favored over steel and glass. This design theory is a response to the many failed urban redesign projects in both sides of Berlin during the Cold War; rather than attempt to design a completely new city, proponents of critical reconstruction want to return to the functionality of the pre-war city.
Famous quotes containing the word critical:
“If our entertainment culture seems debased and unsatisfying, the hope is that our children will create something of greater worth. But it is as if we expect them to create out of nothing, like God, for the encouragement of creativity is in the popular mind, opposed to instruction. There is little sense that creativity must grow out of tradition, even when it is critical of that tradition, and children are scarcely being given the materials on which their creativity could work”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)