Coop Himmelblau designed the UFA Cinema Center in Dresden, completed in 1998. Four cinemas are underground, with four more wedged into a tight space of thick concrete. They join at a glass crystal formed lobby. The glass unfolds for views over the pubic forum.
In a city infamously ravaged by fire-bomb raids in World War 2, this modernist structure rises from the ashes. The cold concrete reminds the city of the brief communist era and the dynamic glass piece clashes into it, breaking through the grief like an earth form through rock, and confronting the lingering issues such as immigration and economy.
It’s an important dialogue on public space and the rejuvenated society.
(dierk schaefer– flickr/creative commons license)
(roryrory– flickr/creative commons license)
(herr.g– flickr/creative commons license)
(dierk schaefer– flickr/creative commons license)
(dierk schaefer– flickr/creative commons license)
(thost– flickr/creative commons license)
