In Tuesday's Tagesspiegel (Berlin), Nadja Klinger has a fine piece on Marchwitzastraße 1–3, a so-called "Plattenbau" (an enormous apartment building, the name for which means "built from slabs") in Marzahn, Berlin, that is being demolished. You can see some good pictures of Plattenbauten here, courtesy of Brian Campbell, a graduate student in history at the University of Rochester. If you've ever been to any former socialist country, you've likely seen buildings like these. There are some striking similarities between socialist urban planning of the kind that brought the world Plattenbauten, and American urban planning of the kind that brought the Route 34 connector to lovely New Haven, Connecticut. The similarities shouldn't be overdrawn, of course, but both kinds of urban planning were grandiose, misguided, and ultimately produced less livable -- and less human -- urban spaces. The destruction of old neighborhoods in the search for a more "legible" urban housing stock had similar effects in both places.

Klinger's piece presents the demolition as something which the residents of Marzahn are looking forward to, partly for the spectacle, partly for the increased sunshine and space that the operation will bring to the neighborhood. Marchwitzastraße 1-3 was the first Plattenbau, so one might expect a certain kind of nostalgia from people in Marzahn itself. Yet Klinger finds none. Apparently, folks there are glad to see the building go.