Things are looking up

Lotte Jeffs takes a tour of Germany’s fantastic modern architecture and meets some equally well constructed gay gals in the process

There’s one thing I like as much as perving over hot girls, and that’s perving over beautiful buildings. The fluid lines, the small, perfect details and that gasping sense of awe both can elicit. I could extend the metaphor to include the similarly satisfying sense I get on entering – but that would just be crass.

So, where in the world am I’m guaranteed to find sexy architecture and equally well-built girls? Germany of course!

This is my whistle-stop tour of the country’s starchitecture – filling you in about the Bavarian babes I took to each place is another story entirely!Start off in arty Braunschweig where you’ll find the joyfully named ‘Happy Rizzi House’. And ‘happy’ it indeed is – in fact it’s like you gave a six-year-old a massive bag of jellybeans, a pint of Coca Cola and some coloured marker pens and asked him to design you a house. Actually, it’s designed by New York artist James Rizzi who collaborated with architect Konrad Kloster to make these six storeys of brash, bold and delightfully irreverent FUN come to life. The building is currently being used for offices, but you can take a guided tour.
www.rizzi-haus.de

Next, head over to Wolfsburg, where my FAVOURITE female architect put her inimitable stamp on the city’s science museum phæno. It’s an incredible structure – enthroned high above street-level, it liberates the ground below as a new kind of urban space, that works as a covered artificial landscape with undulating hills and valleys. Remember TellyTubby land? Well it’s like that, but better. Inside the museum is well worth a look too.
www.phaeno.de

And talking of iconic architects, one surely can’t forget Mr James Sterling, who’s addition to Stuttgart’s Staatsgalerie in 1984 turned the design world’s attentions to this modest German city. Sterling’s annex is connected to the main gallery by a bridge that integrates with the sloping landscape, and respectfully works with the existing historical elements of the Old Staatsgalerie. This seminal structure is something to be seen to be believed.
www.staatsgalerie.deAnother of my favourite buildings in Germany is the Hans Otto Theatre in Potsdam. Architect Gottfried Böhm was inspired by the Sydney Opera House – bringing some of its sublime charm – albeit on a smaller scale – to the Prussian arcadia of the Potsdam-Glienicke landscape. This flame-red, ultra-modern and architecturally challenging theatre has roofs that soar from the banks of the Havel like one of Lady Gaga’s hats. It’s hugely impressive and even incorporates an old chicory mill and a former gasometer. If you happen to be in the area – this is the perfect first date building, with plenty of nooks and crannies for post-opera canoodling.
www.hansottotheater.de

Of course, Berlin is really where it’s at for building watching. Start at The Sony Center – a modern masterpiece of steel and glass in Berlin’s new centre – it’s an international hub for commerce, communication and culture on Potsdamer Platz and the result of a 1991 competition to redesign Berlin’s historical centre.

Then there’s Am Kupfergraben 10 – a fab gallery designed by David Chipperfield
on the Kupfergraben canal, overlooking the Lustgarten and the Museum Island. The intention was to build a modern building, which incorporated but did not replicate the past. And Chipperfield’s done a pretty good job – I’m sure you’ll agree! Oh, and you should also check out the British Embassy, in the Central West part of the city it’s another building set to satiate your structural desires.

I could go on, but frankly there’s not the hours in the day to list all of Germany’s amazing architectural achievements – but this super-cool new website does a pretty good job:

www.creative-germany.travel

If you’d like me to take you on a personal tour of my favourite German buildings, leave a comment and you could be my next Deutschland-design-date! Trust me, the buildings will leave you awe-struck, even if I don’t!
Visit GayGermany.co.uk - the official gay and lesbian site of the German National Tourist Office Videos are at YouTube.com/MyGayGermany
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