Publications

Extract

On a sustainable pavement
Whenever I visit Munich-Schwabing or Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, I am amazed at the high standards with which these neighbourhoods were built: Ground floors four metres high, wooden portals, airy staircases with delicate banisters, flats with skylights and floors of the century. These neighbourhoods can be found in almost every major city in Germany, and they still thrive on the substance of the old days. There is the street layout, which has been sculpturally remodelled by block edges; there are squares and courtyards that surprise with the unknown even after decades. And how incredibly sustainable it was for the city fathers of Berlin to cover the pavements with the typical cobblestones. A central passage with rectangular slabs and two strips of small stone paving: "Walk here - stand there!" This message is understood everywhere, and how this space is used! Those who build sustainably can even elevate something so mundane to a recognisable feature.
- Ulrich KrausArchitect, Schwabmünchen