Tag Archives: Madison

New York’s East 53rd Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenues, is full of nondescript Manhattan skyscrapers. In the courtyard of one of these clinically clean buildings, however, there are five crumbling, old slabs of concrete covered in graffiti. It’s hard to believe that these blocks, so out of place in their surroundings, were once part of one of the most politically charged structures in the world, one that divided the globe in two based on ideology and geopolitics — the Berlin Wall.Over more than 87 miles and 25 years, the wall divided Berlin between East and West, standing as a symbol of division and tension, an almost impossible hurdle to millions of immigrants and political refugees. After its fall, the government of East Germany sold pieces of it to people and entities across the globe; these particular slabs were purchased by Jerry Speyer, of NYC developer Tischman Speyer, and installed on East 53rd Street in 1990 for the enjoyment of the public. In their new context, however, they’ve lost almost all of their political meaning and significance, particularly on a cold Sunday afternoon when I’m the only visitor. They stand impotently dividing nothing, demarcating no place. Context is what gives architecture power, and in 2013 New York, old Berlin means nothing.Continue Reading… … Read More