WZB

Today I fulfilled the primary reason I came to Berlin for - namely to give a presentation at the WZB. The visit has, however, morphed into something else, with multiple useful meetings with various contacts. It also fills in the gap between obligations in Finland and obligations in the South of England, to avoid to much out and back travel from Edinburgh. Overall greener, I guess. And, of course, I like being in central Europe.

My presentation went well, and I was pleased to be able to introduce a few people to each other who didn't otherwise know they were both working on similar things. Funny how an outsider can do that!

I worked in the afternoon, and then - just when we were thinking of going out for a beer with DA - I pretty much collapsed with exhaustion. I had managed to work myself up into a lather of stress about a number of things earlier in the week, and doing my presentation allowed me to let off steam and relax. Cue the overwhelming need to sleep, which I just gave in to. Hence I'm now backblipping.

The WZB (Wissenschaftszentrumberlin) is both an interesting place intellectually speaking and an interesting building. The frontage (of which this door is part) is the former Reichsversicherungsamt (literally Imperial Insurance Office - basically early social security and pensions), with more modern buildings, originally designed by James Stirling in the 1980s but since enlarged, attached at the back. The WZB was created back in the 1960s, but in the 1980s it moved into these new premises, which are part of the Kulturforum, which itself was an attempt to occupy what was essentially wasteland, hard up against the Wall and between the Landwehrkanal and Potsdamer Platz (where the wall passed). So various galleries, concert halls, libraries and the WZB were built in the modernist style, to replace the cultural assets lost behind the Wall (although the area is not especially well served by public transport). Since the Wall came down, there is direct access to the Potsdamer Platz area, but that is widely regarded as being a planning disaster with large, and largely empty, postmodern buildings which don't really fit with the rest of Berlin. And no 'life' and no 'neighbourhood'. So no one much goes there except to work. And apparently the cinemas that were in some of the buildings have literally been priced out by the high rents, so there will be even less life in the future.

Anyway, the WZB is great in every way except that it is miles from the nearest U or S Bahn station.

Meanwhile, back in Leith, meles was sleuthing out an ephemeral addition to the leithwalkshops roster. The Artisan Coffee cafe, which is quite a beloved neighbourhood institution, is being renovated. I'll be interested to see whether they cover up those magnificent ghost signs. It was nice to be in touch with home again and to see such change. I was also jealous of the blue sky. I got soaked again today.