Berlin Reified

On the Baltic

A little while ago, when the days were still contracting, we took the train north to the Baltic coast. 

— These were the two versions of the sky

We'll return for Easter; let's hope for sun. Wishing you happy days!

 

Grunewald, Mitte, Schöneberg, Prenzlauer Berg, Tiergarten

 

— Fallow days.

 

The frozen lake keeps moving

Concrete Weekend (St Agnes & Haus am Waldsee)

After the birthday brunch we crossed the river to look in at St Agnes. The sunlight rippling across the concrete wall was immediately the most interesting part of the room, and I followed the sun to the corner and looked up.  

Who doesn't crave a moment of peace? I lapped up the silence while S leafed through a book on Italian public works and told herself stories. 

Let's be honest, the building rather overshadowed the exhibition on architecture by civil servants. But the pamphlet was quite beautiful in places. 

Just as sometimes the essence of an entire era can be encapsulated in a single moment, the essence of a city can be encapsulated in a single building; or, more precisely, in the fate that the city bestows on that building.

Reading through it made me eager to watch Utopia London. 

 

Afterwards we went to the playground beside Brachvogel and S swung on the swings for what felt like an hour. Later, we shared a pizza.

The next day we dropped S off at a birthday party and went to Haus am Waldsee. The small gray models were a different experience of concrete, played against the herringbone parquet and walls painted gray-blue shades of Farrow & Ball. 

But I did take Ina Weber's slogan, Beton ist Geduldig (orConcrete is patient), as an epigram for the weekend. 

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St Agnes, Alexandrinenstrasse 118-121, Berlin-Kreuzberg (map). Alicja Kwade opening 26 April 6pm-midnight. Exhibition calendar on Facebook.

Brachvogel, Carl-Herz-Ufer 34, Berlin-Kreuzberg (map). Biergarten, small cafe, minigolf.

Haus am Waldsee, Argentinische Allee 30, Berlin-Zehlendorf (map). Modern art museum, cafe, sculpture park and audio guides for architecture tours.

 

Bright duet

 

Some sun, some snow, some gray, some spring—a courtyard, a playground—you understand.

 

Adopt a hen (Bauernhof Weggun)

So you pledge €20 to look after a freerange hen raised according to biodynamic principles, and then you're posted ten vouchers for a half-dozen eggs, which you collect at the Markthalle Neun, where you also meet a friend and have the first proper conversation you've had in ages, and then you make transcendent scrambled eggs the next morning.* What's not to love? (I can't wait until it's berry season again: I first became aware of Bauernhof Weggun through their punnets of bright, perfect raspberries.)

* A plump walnut of butter melted on low in a small pan, two eggs loosely whisked then poured in. Leave for three minutes, then muddle every minute or so. Turn the eggs into a bowl while they still look a touch too moist.

Bauernhof Weggun, Fürstenauer Straße 29, Nordwestuckermark (map). 
At the Markthalle Neun every Saturday. Eisenbahnstraße 42, Berlin-Kreuzberg (map)
Oh, and they have a CSA scheme too! 

Make your own sunshine

... for where else will you find it?

Popping out saturated fluorescent-red petals and slotting them into their stems, the perfect start to a late winter morning. 

Find these exquisite tulips and more by Berlin-based cut&make at R.S.V.P. and elsewhere, or order direct here.