 | A war memorial in Berlin. When I was in Germany, I found myself strangely preoccupied with its memory of World War II. In most respects, I was deeply moved by the way in which Germany had dealt with its past, both by its acts of contrition, and the boldness and hopefulness with which it was moving into the future. The only thing I missed seeing were memorials for the Roma (the Gypsies), who the Nazis pursued as furiously as they did the Jews. Only when Germany makes its peace with them will the story be complete. |
| Another war memorial, near the Berlin zoological gardens. This cathedral had been nearly destoyed by allied bombing, and its ruin left to stand as a warning to future generations. Later, when I was living in India and surrounded by the very real threat of nuclear war, I would often find myself looking at this picture, wondering when we would ever learn. |  |
 | But the hopefulness of Germany's future seems far more powerful, to me, than the darkness of its past. This is the roof of the "Sony Center" within the Potsdamer platz development, a mixed-use complex in southwestern Berlin. Here, 20,000 people live an work in a high-density, pedestrian-oriented, interlinked complex of buildings. Rooftop terrace gardens cascade down to water cachement basins, which act as water filtration plants, wildlife habitats, and evaporative coolers for the entire complex. I was astounded: it was as if one of Paolo Soleri's arcologies had leaped straight into the real world. |
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