SPIEGEL ONLINE - 23.08.2012
Although best known for its flat-pack furniture, IKEA is a tangled web of businesses with tentacles in numerous areas. Now the Swedish company is building entire city districts from scratch, starting with London and then Hamburg. But success in Germany is far from certain. By Stefan Kaiser in Hamburg more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 21.08.2012
Best known for his work on China Central Television headquarters in Beijing, Germany's Ole Scheeren has become a success in Asia with his experimental architecture. Now the rising star wants to take on the Gehrys and Fosters by opening an office in London. By Ulrike Knöfel more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 10.07.2012
The small, German town of Reutlingen boasts the narrowest street in the world, with a width of just 31 centimeters, and tourists come from far and wide to scrape through it. But the record is at risk because a side wall is bulging out into the passageway. Soon, it may cease to be a street. Locals are concerned. By Benjamin Schulz in Reutlingen more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 08.06.2012
The landed gentry filled the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with magnificent castles, manors and estates. But hundreds of them are now abandoned and falling apart. Will dreamers from the West come to the rescue? By Matthias Schulz more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 07.06.2012
Germany is one castle the poorer this week after authorities demolished a fortress built illegally by a beekeeper with big dreams. The man spent years and thousands of euros on its construction, but neglected to get a permit. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 01.06.2012
When Qatar presented its plans to build soccer stadiums in the middle of the desert for the 2022 World Cup, it was ridiculed as "the biggest football joke of all time." But the architect chosen to design the winning bid knows all about reinventing oneself -- and came up with a grand vision for the desert kingdom. By Alexander Smoltczyk more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 25.05.2012
Urban researchers in Berlin are exploring an eerie phenomenon -- the modern ghost town. From a deserted Cypriot holiday resort to a brand new Chinese city devoid of inhabitants, they are asking why people abandon their communities and exploring the stories that make these empty places so compelling. By Kate Katharina Ferguson more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 20.04.2012
After sitting derelict for some 15 years, Berlin's first Jewish Girls' School has been brought back to life. When the Jewish community couldn't afford renovations, two of the city's cultural fixtures came up with a slick new concept that honors the building's past with new artistic and culinary energy. By Renuka Rayasam more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 26.03.2012
A striking new museum opens this week in Belfast, the birthplace of the ill-fated Titanic luxury ship. Opening a century after the cruise ship slammed into an iceberg, killing 1,500, the exhibition recalls a tragedy which was long taboo in Northern Ireland's former industrial hub. By Antje Blinda in Belfast more... [ Forum ]
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 21.03.2012
Historians, architects, archaeologists and volunteers in Germany are teaming up to build a medieval monastery the old-fashioned way. Working conditions will be strictly 9th-century, without machines, rain jackets or even coffee. It will take decades, but they hope to garner fresh insights into everyday life in the 800s. By Angelika Franz more...
