The Potsdam Project

The Potsdam Project

By Nikos A.Salingaros

Reconstruction of Alter Markt and Stadtschloss, Potsdam

Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force 1996

Painting by James Hart Dyke

(Photo by Richard Ivey)

Old Potsdam in Our Hearts and Minds

Early 20th Century View of Alter Markt with Fortuna Portal

(Picture from "Potsdam, Alter Markt")

Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture

"Because of its distinctive history Potsdam has always possessed a peculiarly strong and powerful image, and this was one of the reasons the Task Force was attracted to working here."

Brian Hanson

Historical View of Alter Markt with Rathaus in the Background
(Painting by K.C.W. Baron, Neue Kammern)

".....it can be claimed that the memory of an older, finer Potsdam has never truly been erased, and that it still occupies the hearts and minds of those who live in the city, and the increasing number of those who choose to visit it."

HRH The Prince Of Wales

Historical View of Potsdam in its Landscape Setting

"Potsdam, Alter Markt"

(Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture)

"Potsdam is a picturesque, pastoral dream. In it, a longed-for relationship between mankind and the world it inhabits is given form through a balance between architecture and the natural world. Nothing about the place is accidental, everything has been carefully considered to remind the inhabitants of Potsdam of their relationship with a wider universe of sense and meaning. A jewel set in the most stunning landscape of rivers and mountains, studded with villas by the likes of Schinkel and Persius, their towers reaching to the skies, Potsdam is a place which testifies to the deep desire on the part of those who founded, and who nurtured it, to embrace the land and to make of the entire landscape a work of art."

HRH The Prince Of Wales

(Foreword to "Potsdam, Alter Markt")

Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture

Alter Markt 1945 with Schinkel's Nikolaikirche Ruin

(Photo: Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Potsdam)

"A great presence has been replaced - because of the Allied bombings in the very last days of the War, and then, nearly twenty years later, an ideologically-driven destruction - by a yawning absence. The task, therefore, was clear: it was to find a way of retrieving that lost idea, and of giving it a physical form which would be more than a mere replica of the city which had existed before. What we sought was a new city, responsive to the current demands upon it, yet one thouroughly imbued with the spirit of that older, seemingly irretrievable lost city."

Brian Hanson

Director of The Prince Of Wales's Urban Design Task Force

The Prince of Wales's Insitute of Architecture

Situation of Alter Markt in 1996
(Photo by Richard Ivey)

"......this powerful physical image has been altered almost beyond recognition."

Brian Hanson

View from Alter Markt towards Merkur Hotel and Orangerie

(Photo by Richard Ivey)

The New Stadtschloss

The Potsdam Project:

Reconstruction of Alter Markt and Stadtschloss Site
(Photo by Richard Ivey)

The Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force 1996

"The Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force is not recommending a historical reconstruction of the Stadtschloss....... The main option developed by the Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force consists of a partial reconstruction. Rather than maintaining the Stadtschloss ensemble as one building, it is fragmented and articulated into several significant parts, relevant within their urbanistic logics and within a larger scenario of urban reconstruction of the historical centre of Potsdam. However, the historical footprint, silhouette and enclosure remain the principal and paradigmatic guide and inspiration of the reconstruction endeavours!"

"Potsdam, Alter Markt"

(The Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force 1996)

Axionometric of the Potsdam Project

Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force 1996

(Drawing by Rick Shaupp)

"Supporting the resolution of the City Parliament of 24th October 1990, which called for 'a delicate reappropriation of the characteristic historically grown cityscape', the proposals of The Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force stand as an unprejudiced contribution to a vision of Potsdam. This vision encompasses the reconciliation of the Potsdamers with their city in its historical dimension and memory, its modern reality and its future potential."

"Potsdam, Alter Markt"

(The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture)

The Proposed Stadtschloss Reconstruction in Potsdam
The Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force 1996

"There is nothing past for which one may yearn, there is only an eternal newness which is shaped by the wider elements of the past; and true nostalgia has always to be productive to create a new excellence."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Proposed Development of Havel Riverfront, Potsdam

The Prince of Wales's Urban Design Task Force 1996

Reconstruction Potsdam Süd