Potsdamer Platz is one of the most urban places in Berlin. More than 110,000 people visit the area every day. With its central location, it is a sought-after residential and office address, and above all an attraction for tourists. With its eventful history, Potsdamer Platz is one of Berlin’s landmarks and impresses with striking buildings by renowned architects as well as numerous cultural events and pop-up concepts. At the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Berlin 2021, impressive artworks made of light has transformed the entire square with its buildings and streets into a huge open-air gallery. “Creating Tomorrow” is the overarching motto of all the installations, emblazoned in large letters across the square. It intensively illuminated themes such as sustainability, the future, science, humanity and diversity.
Potsdamer Platz
As the starting point for a tour of Potsdamer Platz, the Kollhoff Tower and the Forum Tower, as the entrance gate to Potsdamer Platz, draw all visitors into a futuristic environment. Large-scale and visible from afar, the light art productions shine from the facades, are as colorful and diverse as the capital Berlin. As contrasts to each other, two collages in the style of street art and modern digitization are created on the buildings.
What must and can we do to secure the future of our planet and its people? Which unanswered questions about the origin and evolution of life still need to be answered by science? The impressive installations “Earth” and “Mars” on Potsdamer Platz and Marlene-Dietrich-Platz aimed to raise awareness for these pressing issues. Designed exclusively for the festival and with a height of 4.5 meters, the representations of the celestial bodies were an unmistakable memorial: “Earth” stands for the indispensable efforts in terms of sustainability, diversity and humanity. In the “Year of Science”, the light art installation of the “Red Planet” was a visible sign of its futuristic exploration and pointed to an intensive preoccupation with our own and future generations’ future. In light of the ongoing changes, Earth focuses on the issues at hand and Mars on the forward-looking thoughts of humanity. Good to know: After the end of the festival, both sculptures traveled on to “EXPO 2020” in Dubai together with the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS team.
