The Berlin Philharmonic

Let's talk about architecture for a few minutes.

According to Wikipedia, the Berlin Philharmonie was designed in the 1960s to reflect modernist designs, and has a pentagon shape with spiked roofs. It "is highly regarded for the quality of its acoustics". Frankly, it looks like something out of Star Trek.

I made the quest up to the Philharmonie today, largely because I wanted to see how long it took and which route was the best. I have a ticket to see Jonas Kaufmann perform there next month, and since I'll be going alone, I wanted to case the joint, as it were. I got to the building after inadvertently walking into a marathon. It's located just off Potsdamer Platz, one of those unfortunate areas of Berlin that was built to be modern, streamlined, and ugly as sin. I walked around the Philharmonie, looked inside (it was closed, alas), and took a few pictures. I have to say, based on today's viewing of the place, I was incredibly disappointed.

"Chill out, dumbass," said my brother, who's been to the Philharmonie multiple times. "Wait until you get inside and hear the orchestra play. It's amazing."

That may be true, but I'm old-fashioned: I like my concert halls to be historic buildings with graceful architecture, not modernist monstrosities. So the simple fact of the matter is that I prefer the Konzerthaus, painstakingly and lovingly restored after the War, to the modernism of the newer halls.