The world famous Berghain club stands for ecstatic techno, dance, dope drugs, darkrooms and strict doormen. One seems to enter a place that apparently has its own rules and time law. You don’t really pay attention to the architecture, but this is actually the frame for this utopian reality. This heterotypical extraordinary world is made of a former 60ies cogeneration plant. Outside, it’s kept in a neo-classical style and, inside, it was transformed for its present functions. When you pass the huge hall to the stairs that lead to the dancefloor, you will experience the captivating impact of this place.
Its history: the kilns used to sustain the Karl-Marx-Allee during the GDR. It was extended with another big electricity plant, but it has been vacant since the 90ies. In 2004, the Karhard architects got to work on the building, which was really in need of renovation, in order to create new shelter for the former techno culture OstGut.
Nowadays, there is a panorama bar in the electricity plant, the techno club in the turbine hall, a gay club (lab.oratory) in the basement and a multifunctional event location called “Kubus”. The interior design is kept raw and industrial, resembling Berlin’s strategy of derelict rooms that can be renewed with the help of a few means. It seems like exciting architecture is made of the makeshift and improvised. Technical elements such as isolators were transformed into lamps and transformer boxes became for example bars.
This structure offered the best opportunities for a transformation into a club. Crowds are dancing to electro music nowadays, where electric current used to activate machines before. There are also intimate premises for darkrooms. Integrated art emphasizes the image of this techno club and creates a relation to the regular clientele, namely artists. The aluminum panorama “Rituale des Verschwindens” (German: Rituals of Vanishing) by Piotr Nathan depicts the similarities between the elements and the power of techno. The serigraph by Marc Brandenburg shows segments of a carousel. Berghain has the same function like the carousel we went to during our childhood: providing fun. One night at Berghain has 96 hours. Next time, when you addict yourself to this lawless place, try to pay more attention to the architecture.
Copyright and source: http://www.karhard.de
http://www.berghain.de
http://www.lab-oratory.de
http://www.mato-tragkon.de/Fotos/proj_2006_ostgut_treppe_1.jpg
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