O plattenbau, o plattenbau, du kannst mir sehr gefallen.

Plattenbau or ‘prefabricated’ in English is a descriptor often used in the pejorative. Yet the recent listing of several historically styled plattenbau buildings in the former Eastern Germany remind us that this much-maligned form doesn’t always mean featureless repetition. In the 1980s a group of DDR Architects pioneered a distinctive ‘altplattenbau’ style for the sympathetic redevelopment of historic city centres, that mimicked much of the form and elements of former medieval buildings. This was most famously realised in the Nikolaiviertel that was reconstructed in the 1980s to celebrate the 750th birthday of the city of Berlin. Widely praised both at the time and since, the style was used across much of Berlin’s city centre as more attention was given to restoring some of the other heritage areas, such as the Gendarmenmarkt, Friedrichstraße and Spandauer Vorstadt. The style was perhaps most beautifully realised in Halle, where a row of very sympathetically designed plattenbau have also received their Denkmalschutz (listed) status. <a href="https://simon-goodall.medium.com/o-plattenbau-o-plattenbau-du-kannst-mir-sehr-gefallen-7bb6c4eaad27">Click Here</a>