In light of the manifestation ‘Rotterdam Culture City’, OMI invites German architect Claudia Kromrei to reflect on postmodern Berlin. The 1980s were not only a flourishing period for architecture in Rotterdam, also in Berlin many internationally renowned architects developed their talents. Competitions and groundbreaking architecture exhibitions gave architects the chance to actually implement their ideas and plans in the city.

During her talk, Kromrei focusses on this illustrious period in East- and West-Berlin. From the progressive housing construction of the Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) to the brutalist Mäusebunker, the former laboratory for animal research. Kromrei zooms in on the concrete form of these – and other – buildings against the theoretical conceptual world of their designers.