Located in Berlin Zehlendorf, the Truman Plaza parallels the adjacent Clayallee and is part of a larger master plan that balances its historical urban context with its integration of a delicate onsite forest. Designed by Wiel Arets Architects, the project, which is currently in progress, includes offices, retail, health and sports facilities, which together form an urban setting situated around a central plaza within this leafy borough on the edge of Berlin. More images and architects’ description after the break.
A series of staggered volumes with height graduations and setbacks provide a framework and rhythm, while a higher, two-part structure anchors the project to the site. Depending on perspective, these volumes merge to create a cityscape. The central public plaza, or square, establishes a meeting point for residents – acting as a social condenser – and greened pathways stem from this plaza to the mature woodlands surrounding the site, including the Grunewald forest. Retail programming is located on the ground floor, and multiple terraces at varying heights define the project’s visual relationship to the remainder of its programming, and its site – fostering interiority – while a small pavilion near the onsite forest will house a café.
As the project is situated on a highly frequented prelude en route to the inner city of Berlin, the importance of these outdoor spaces goes beyond the project’s immediate development by extending the existing green belt along the Clayallee, enabling the emergence of a large square at the corner of the Argentinische Allee, forming the Truman Plaza’s entrance and further defining the site.
