mehr als 50 Prozent von Betrieb ab“, ist sich Lüscher sicher. Baumasse allein garantiert noch keine urbane Erlebnisdichte. Denn Stadtviertel leben von sozialer Mischung, öffentlichen Räumen, Überraschungen, Widersprüchen und architektonischer Vielfalt. „Der Washingtonplatz ist mit seinen Granitplatten ein sehr berlinischer Platz.“ “Washingtonplatz, with its granite slabs, is a typical Berlin square.” Europacity will be the first impression of Berlin for millions of visitors and is therefore an important calling card,” explain the planners from the Co- logne-based architectural firm ASTOC. They were the winners of the competition for the urbanisation of the former freight station area and have a prominent track record, demonstrated in their designs for Hamburg’s HafenCity. According to ASTOC founder Markus Neppl, their aim was not to design a “clean model city”, but a vibrant neighbourhood. Europacity was to become a fully-fledged living district linking East and West and celebrating Berlin's new position at the heart of Eu- rope. The different architectural designs that charac- terise Berlin's newest district can now be experienced for the first time. Regula Lüscher, who as Senate Build- ing Director had political responsibility for Europacity, appreciates the architectural quality of many of the buildings. Der Spreebogen steht für das neue Berlin – die Europacity gehört dazu. Spreebogen stands for the new Berlin – Europacity is part of it. 22 Kaleidoscope To Lüscher, cube berlin office building on the southern forecourt of the central railway station seems, in her words, “abstract and scaleless, like a sculpture on which the storeys are barely legible”. The solitaire with its “reflective pleated dress” (Lüscher) next to the station solitaire is “an eye-catcher”, says the Zurich architect, “constantly assuming new appearanc- es depending on the light and weather”. Cube berlin by CA Immo is based on a design by the Cologne-based architect Oswald Matthias Ungers, who went down in German post-war architectural history as the master of the square. The neighbourhood to the west of the building has a mix of stone and mineral façades, against which the glass cube berlin stands out. However, for the former Senate Building Director, it lacks “outward charisma”; for her, “the abstraction prevents dialogue” with the urban space. Even a canopy would destroy the clear view. Despite the deep floor plans, there is no atrium in cube berlin. The reflective cube berlin by the Copenhagen-based architects 3XN has a photogenical- ly jagged glass façade. In her opinion, many contem- porary Danish architects can design “lightly, inclusive- ly, democratically”. However, the façade is not just a formal gimmick because the tilted glass surfaces are only the outer shell of a double-skin façade; the hinged windows of the inner layer provide natural ventilation to the ten office floors. Trilogy The office tower on Europaplatz, where KPMG will set up its Berlin headquarters in future, is the tallest tower and "point de vue" in Europacity. Lüscher is re- lieved to see that the "promise of the renderings" has been fulfilled in reality. Towards the top, the tower façade becomes "glassier" with "refined undulation", as Lüscher calls it. Together with the Tour Total and 50Hertz tower next door, the tower forms a trio, a triad on the plaza and a prelude to Europacity. Since 2012, the 70 m high Tour Total, designed by Berlin-based ar- chitects Barkow Leibinger, has marked Europacity on the skyline. The headquarters of the network operator 50Hertz was then added by Graz-based LOVE archi- tecture. The third high-rise is now being built above the tunnel of the S 21 light railway line by CA Immo, one of Europacity’s largest investors, according to the design by Munich-based Allmann Sattler Wappner Ar- chitekten. They let the tower grow out of a sculpturally profiled base and make it smoother, more transparent and more abstract with increasing height. For this high point, Lüscher speaks of "noble elegance" and "ap- propriate independence in the triad of profile-forming high-rises on the site". Tour Total The Tour Total is “quiet”, says Lüscher. The architec- ture is “subtle and delicate and only reveals its secret at a second glance”. She describes the French compa- ny’s headquarters as “restrained expressionism that ties in with modernism”, which was a good motif for Quartier Heidestrasse. The plinth construction with metal pilaster strips varies the theme of the diagonal il- lusion created by the façade’s curves. From an oblique EUROPACITY DAS MAGAZIN