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The Sony Center is a Sony-sponsored building complex located at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany. It opened in 2000.
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The Sony Center am Potsdamer Platz is where history and modernity meet in a unique manner. Famous Kaisersaal (Emperor's Hall) and other magnificent rooms of the former Esplanade Grand Hotel have become part of the modern ensemble.
With its profusion of cultural highlights, the Sony Center attracts as many as 60,000 visitors on
a peak day. Following Germany's unification, pulsating life has returned to Potsdamer Platz, which had been a wasteland for so long during the post-war period.
Relocation of the Esplanade Grand Hotel, the Historic Heart
The Esplanade Grand Hotel, which was once located on what are now the Sony Center premises, was almost totally destroyed during World War II. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the rooms left undestroyed in the building, represented listed historic monuments.
In order to be able to make Potsdamer Strasse wider, the magnificent rooms of this one-time luxury hotel had to be moved. In 1996, famous Kaisersaal went on a computer-controlled journey: The entire hall was moved 75 meters in a costly and complicated operation. Kaisersaal and other historic rooms reopened as restaurants and
venues for events.
1996/2006
- March 21, 1996
In a spectacular operation, Kaisersaal, weighing 1,300 tons, is moved 75 meters on an air cushion to be placed next to the other rooms of the former Esplanade Grand Hotel listed as historic monuments.
Civil engineering work can now start on the 26,500 square meters of land set aside to become the future Sony Center am Potsdamer Platz.
- October 11, 1996
The foundation stone for the office, residential and entertainment complex comprising seven structures is laid. In a German-Japanese ceremony, the start of carcassing work is celebrated together with guests from politics, business and culture.
-February 19, 1997
The lease for the Filmhaus is signed. Carcassing of the custom-made structure can begin now. Deutsche Kinemathek designed to accommodate a film museum and the Marlene Dietrich Collection, among others, as well as the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie and the Arsenal thematic cinema will move into this building.
- September 2, 1998
The See You Tomorrow topping-out ceremony is held. The Office Tower at Potsdamer Platz with its semicircular shape becomes an urban landmark of Berlin's new heart. All seven buildings of the Sony Center am Potsdamer Platz are under construction.
Work to erect the complicated roof structure combining steel, glass and fabric webbing starts in autumn 1998.
- October 18, 1999
Sony Europe moves into its headquarters inside the Office Building at Kemperplatz.
- January 20, 2000
On the occasion of the Berlin Film Festival, the CineStar Original and the CineStar IMAX movie theaters are the first parts of the Sony Center to open.
- April 28, 2000
The Sony Style Store opens.
- June 1, 2000
At the Filmhaus, the Arsenal film art cinema opens with two screening halls.
- June 14, 2000
The Sony Center am Potsdamer Platz is officially opened in a festive ceremony with 2,500 guests present. The Grand Opening held under the motto "See You Today," is attended by Norio Ohga, Chairman of the Board of the Sony Corporation; Otto Schily, Federal Minister of the Interior; Eberhard Diepgen, Berlin's Governing Mayor; the entire international top management of the Sony Corporation and of partner companies involved in the project, as well as architect Helmut Jahn's team and many important figures from politics, business and culture.
- September 27, 2000
The Filmhaus is opened.
- May 19, 2001
In Spring 2001, the western portion of the former Esplanade Grand Hotel is inaugurated as the final part of the construction project. Its operators, Lutter & Wegner, reopen it as a restaurant, café and bar. It includes the Josty Café housed in the historic breakfast room.
- February 24, 2002
Together with Palmenhof (Palm Court), Silbersaal (Silver Room) and Kaisersaal, the historic Esplanade Salons, are opened as restaurants and venues for events. They are run by Kaisersaal Vermarktungs GmbH.
- June 1st, 2006
Opening of Fernsehmuseum Berlin (Television Museum) inside the Filmhaus. | | Description | |
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The Sony Center am Potsdamer Platz is a modern architectural ensemble combining steel and glass in Berlin's new heart. It has established itself as an international hub of business, communication and culture. The Forum, a covered public square, constitutes the center of the seven buildings this ensemble is comprised of. This urban center is surrounded by the Berlin Philharmonic and the Picture Gallery at the Cultural Forum. Even the Reichstag Building and Tiergarten with its expansive park and green spaces is not far away at all.
Built within a span of four years from 1996 to 2000 according to the designs of architect Helmut Jahn, a new landmark has sprung up on this 26,500 square meter tract of land at Potsdamer Platz. The Sony Center, being one of the most striking sites in this metropolis, attracts about 8 million visitors per year.
Architecture
The main feature of Helmut Jahn's design is the oval shape of the large covered light-flooded Forum that achieves perfect generosity. Helmut Jahn lines up the other elements of his design around this public space: The building of Sony Europe at Kemperplatz, the Office Tower at Potsdamer Platz, the portions of the former Esplanade Grand Hotel which are listed as historic monuments and have to be integrated into the architectural complex, the Filmhaus and further mixed-use structures.
Fascinating Roof Structure
The large roof spanning the Forum is the most distinguishing architectural feature of the Sony Center am Potsdamer Platz. The roof structure, as designed by architect Helmut Jahn and the engineers of Ove Arup & Partner, consists of glass, steel and fabric webbing. It covers the middle of the Sony Center, spanning it approximately 100 meters in the principal axis and about 80 meters in the secondary axis. The unique oval roof weighs some 920 tons. Yet, the airiness with which it floats over the central Forum is truly amazing.
At nightfall, the roof is illuminated and shines in varying colors. The transparent roof structure serves as a skylight and projection surface for 48 projectors and 24 spotlights. Retracing a sunset, colors change between cyan and magenta every night. Yann Kersalé, a Paris-based light artist created the concept for that.
Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz forms the cultural, social and architectural focus of Berlin's reconstruction effort. It is here that the intellectual center of a formerly glamorous and pulsating city was located - a city which used to be considered as the epitome of a European metropolis. A host of prestigious hotels built during the era of the last German Kaisers, famous cafés and restaurants and large train stations in its vicinity made Potsdamer Platz the most important traffic hub in Berlin. Europe's first traffic light was switched on here in 1924. Der Sturm gallery at Potsdamer Platz was the site where avant-garde art achieved its breakthrough, while the Voxhaus was the birthplace of today's radio broadcasting. World War II bomb attacks destroyed Potsdamer Platz almost entirely in 1945. The Huth wine merchants' house and parts of the former Esplanade Grand Hotel are among the last remnants of this once vibrant hub.
In the Heart of the Divided City
When the war ended, Potsdamer Platz became a place where three "countries" met. Central Borough (Soviet Zone), Tiergarten Borough (British Zone) and Kreuzberg Borough (American Zone) bordered on each other there. A busy black market sprung up in this area. In 1948, the zonal border at Potsdamer Platz was first demarcated with color and then with barbed wire. When the Berlin Wall was built on August 13, 1961, Berlin's division had become final. The 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence of a cultural forum designed to flank Potsdamer Platz in West Berlin through the construction of the Philharmonic and the National Library by Hans Scharoun and the New National Gallery by Mies van der Rohe. Any hopes of recreating the historical web of streets were given up for good at that time. All planning stopped at the Berlin Wall. Old Potsdamer Strasse, a major East-West traffic artery, was closed by buildings.
Culture and Entertainment
The covered Forum in the middle of the Sony Center has developed into one of the most exciting venues in Berlin. The spectacular roof structure combining glass and fabric webbing offers an unparalleled setting for international events.
Stories Told in Yurts, held in January, the International Film Festival in February and Boccia on Ice during the Christmas Season are among the regular features staged at the Sony Center. Sports, art and music events and diverse product presentations ensure that there is always something for the visitor to experience at the Sony Center. During the numerous film premières, Europe's longest red carpet is rolled out in front of the CineStar Original, with the fans of such stars as Tom Cruise, Leonardo di Caprio, Penélope Cruz, Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry crowding the Forum. Exceptional individual events, too, create a sensation. For example, during the 2002 Soccer World Cup, the Sony Center turned into "Germany's secret World Cup stadium," with thousands of soccer fans watching the games on an LED screen and celebrating a festival of nations.
Multi-Faceted Culinary Delights
About a dozen restaurants, bars and cafés are located close together and offer a wide gastronomic selection for many occasions: Whether at breakfast, at a business luncheon, at dinner, at a midnight snack after an evening at the movies or at special celebrations, patrons can embark on and enjoy a culinary journey through many countries. At the Forum alone, guests are treated to six different types of cuisine, namely, that of the Bavarian-Austrian Lindenbräu, the Australian Corroboree, the French Le Comptoir bistro, the international Alex Café, the tradition-rich Josty Café in the historic breakfast room, and the Kaisersaal gastronomy with its Lutter & Wegner restaurant.
Located directly next to the Filmhaus on Potsdamer Strasse, the Billy Wilder's, serving American and international cocktails and dishes, extends a welcome to cineasts and other patrons until late at night.
Culinary treats are also offered in the Sony Center Passerelle, a walkway that links the Forum to the subway and elevated train station at Potsdamer Platz. | | Site's content | |
 | Helmut Jahn (né en 1940)
Roof
Sizes : 102 m x 77 m
from 1998 to 2000
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