Plans are afoot to rebuild one of Berlin’s old bridges destroyed during WWII — but what would Mick Jagger think?
Not surprisingly, the Second World War and Battle of Berlin left many scars on the city. And some of them have not healed to this day. One of these scars is the absence of Brommybrücke, or Brommy Bridge, connecting Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain between Ostbahnhof and Köpenicker Straße. Its pillars still stand, but the bridge itself was blown up by the Nazis to stop the advance of the Red Army and Allies. Fortunately futile. Recently, there has been plenty of talk of reconstructing the bridge, but nothing came of it — until now.
Grobe Architects have presented their proposal for the reconstruction: A smiling mouth will „open the gate to the centre of Berlin“, as the architects put it. They also plan on including venues, offices and a restaurant in the lips and teeth of the structure. The colourful bridge, the architects muse, could be a new landmark for the city.
We, however, have a few questions: What will Mick Jagger think about this design resembling the famous Rolling Stones logo? Will they keep the name Brommy Bridge? After all, it’s the name of a German navy general — not quite fitting with today’s multicultural Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. And most importantly: shouldn’t it miss a few teeth, for the street credibility and all?
