The Berg: The biggest artificial mountain in the world
© The Berg
German architect Jakob Tigges has projected a new and visionary landmark in Berlin. He plans to build a mountain of 1,000 meters high called “The Berg”, which would become a never-before-seen tourist destination in the German capital city. Seen at Plataforma Arquitectura. More images and description after the break.
© The Berg
The objective is to create a natural habitat for the mountain’s wildlife and at the same time, become a recreation space for everyone in the city. “The Berg” would take the place of the Tempelhof Airport, a space currently under discussion. Surprisingly, there’s a big group supporting “The Berg” and people are pressing to get the approval and financing of the project.
© The Berg
The Berg Manifesto:
While big and wealthy cities in many parts of the world challenge the limits of possibility by building gigantic hotels with fancy shapes, erecting sky-high offce towers or constructing hovering philharmonic temples, Berlin sets up a decent mountain. Its peak exceeds 1000 metres and is covered with snow from September to March…
Hamburg, as stiff as fat, turns green with envy, rich and once proud Munich starts to feel ashamed of its distant Alp-panorama and planners of the Middle-East, experienced in taking the spell off any kind of architectural utopia immediately design authentic copies of the iconic Berlin-Mountain. Tempelhof no longer only is on Berliners’ minds: People come in focks to – not to see the mountain. Thus,
Come and see The Berg!
© The Berg
© The Berg
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© The Berg
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99 comments »
exciting… hope it doesn;t have a butterfly effect… !
crazy, extremly expensive but good: rather build an artificial mountain with resort, than devastate natural beauty with resorts. and you can have best looking high rise buildings, a mountain, even a fake one looks better, more…natural :)
yeap, and from where is going to come all the resources to build it?
– Nature
from litter.
and/or you take some woodless unused earth put it on “the berg” and after that you can fill the big hole with water and got a nice lake too…
That’s why this project is soo not German! A real German worth his leiderhosen would make a big manly VOLCANO instead!!! Just engineer some wild boring device to drill to the middle of the earth and bring magma to the surface and it would create itself! And think of all the geothermal heating this would create! The whole region could live off of that for centuries and we wouldn’t have to bother the Middle East at all!! Heck, I’d be willing to bet the creator might even get himself a Nobel or two for bringing about peace and what not.
architecture…?????????????
I find it really sad when people have such restricted views of what constitutes architecture. Why wouldn’t this be architecture?
I guess it could be considered so. So could Disneyland.
As someone currently studying architecture though, I hope not. I want to hope that I can come out working on things that take natural, cultural, and environmental factors ALL into consideration.
Building a mountain that had no geologic or geographic will to be there is more some kitschy gimmick, like a mall or amusement park, that I find more the influence of developer than most people I meet studying in an architecture program.
Though I have heard it’s hard to make a living and we often become the whores of this influence and sell our souls in order to do so.
Architecture means different things to different people, but this is not what it means to me.
it is called landscape architecture :P
I’ve seen this around a lot lately, but I have not seen any info on how it could be constructed?
Soil? Stones? …
hm landscape architecture maybe …
but more like … playing god?
playing god?
couldn’t you say the same about any architect, scientist, artist, or creative person?
This is retarded and isn’t architecture by the way…I would never go to Berlin because they have an artificial mountain. I’d go if they continued making good arcitecture
Like most conceptual art pieces, I looked at this and wondered why noone had thought of it before. Its simple and crazy-genious. If its a constructed environment, I’d have to argue its in the realm of architecture.
As for being retarded, well… It would impact the micro-climate, and we could discuss that endlessly. For marketting and bringing people to the city, I can’t think of anything that would work better, whether its a good design or not. Something this crazy would even be on Oprah. Its revolutionary!
nobody? I did
where would you differentiate between an architect and an engineer then? Both architect and engineer could make a “constructed environment”.
conceptual art? What?
This has been done before for one thing, in the form of the Matterhorn at Disneyland. So it’s not exactly like it’s a new “concept”.
Wood, build with wood please!!!!
Berlin already has an artificial mountain, its called “Humboldthöhe” and it is located in “Volkspark Humboldthain”. It is made out of the destroyed Buildings from WW2, and covered with Vegetation. Ok, it’s only 85 m high, but it covers 1.6 million m³ of debris and it wasn’t there before 1945.
Ok, after some minutes i understood the project. I like it. Reminds my of “Hurz”.
I don’t know about ridiculous. It’s different certainly, but people travel to fredricksburg just for enchanted rock.
It may not be architecture in the traditional sense, but it is design and in a world where nature is being traded for buildings, it’s refreshing that someone would make an attempt to bring a little nature back into the world instead of another airport.
Now, put a roller coaster through that mountain and you’ve got something.
yeah i would love to ride a roller coaster that stretch around the mountain and through it!..
I say if you make an artificial mountain, make it look en work artificial. You’ll be a poor man trying to imitate a thing that can only be produced by nature.
Might as well put some big ears on it, call it Mikey Mountain then have old Walt’s boys build a monorail through it…..just because something is built doesn’t means it’s architecture…big difference between architecture and building…or mountaining in this case.
Mmh is this the future, building nature? But what for is already there
A park wouldn´t be enough?
you’re right
Setting aside issues of originality and what not, let’s get down to brass tacks. How much landscape and habitat will they have to destroy elsewhere to make this fake mountain in Berlin? Where’s the 1000 meter deep hole going to be when this project is completed? How much fuel is it going to take to transport the raw material to the site? Making a new mountain is perhaps the most destructive thing I can think of short of dropping a nuclear bomb.
The 1000m hole could create a new artificial lake on the other side of the city… Perfect!!!
Great idea!
they won’t necessarily have to destroy anything – take all the rubble from the construction and demolition sites, it will definitely take some time though
extremely freaked out but good too… intresting
interesting. but, is that really important for the city? how expensive it would be? It’s nice to think that we can build a maountain, but anyway, I think a park would be enough too..
I’d have to agree with what your saying. I believe that a mountain being built in Berlin is just as bad as when a little child has homework to do and yet does something else, what i mean is why not take all that money since it will be a HUUUGE amount, and help those who can’t even feed their own children. Its a shame that us humans dont share a common decency when it comes to other humans in need.
I wonder if tourists will rather visit the humongous hole, left where all the rocks and soil will be take from to build this thing!
Ok…here is the deal…GRAB a mountain…a little photoshop in it, put some animals, a rollercoaster, a little snow and most important “human scale”
there is you project…you can DIY in your own city …all you need is a mountain…there must be like…uhm…150 million all over the world.
so what. good ideas don§t have to be difficult. in fact. all the genial ideas are primitive – its a mountain. thats it – no design, no complicated stuff, just a mountain. and it looks the best, serves the best. And I cant imagine a better way to deal with nature.
theres just too much people for the nature, so its logical, that if we want more nature, we must make own own.
its better to destroy artificial nature than the real one.
and a city is one big piece of artificiality. why not artificial nature?
How ironic… destroying nature to make city, and then destroying city (and nature?) to make artificial nature again… and we’re all, including me, crazy enough to think this could work.
Archinature…
a new concept hehe :)
man re-creates nature. Very interesting idea !
I HOPE THIS IS A JOKE.
its a very funny joke, I love the description “Hamburg, as stiff as fat” hahaha
that’s a shame…
The problem CMO arch is that you may be completely right in your statement but nobody will accept a single statement saying what architecture really is nowaday. So I would say society would call architecture anything that define itself as such.
Therefore, it is in architecture. It is undoubedtly influenced by a certain history of architecture, probably the family of projects of Petena, archizoom, site, archigram and such (that you may or may not consider as being architecture).
And I must say I would go to Berlin to see that even more often that I already love to go there. However, i don’t think it is possible to build it as it is shown…
“The objective is to create a natural habitat for the mountain’s wildlife and at the same time, become a recreation space for everyone in the city”
Help me understand the expendature of natural and economic resources to build a faux nature. This is silly. I will always be more interested in visiting Germany (or anywhere else for that matter) for its authenticity. In Germany’s case its history, its culture, and natural settings.
las vegas is not authentic at all. disneyland neither. and thats the best place in the world. its surreality is the THING that makes it an unique experience. That surreal genius loci – you know its not true, but it looks like that – like a fairytale. I cant imagine a better place to go
I wander if there is such thing as authenticity that would define any national identity anymore. If i think about the recent celebration events of the fall of the wall, I see a domino likke sculpture falling, a Bon Jovi concert … I’m still searching for the authenticity. And i’m not even talking about architecture there. I don’t think this disparition of authenticity is specific to Germany as a matter of fact, since national identity as been a big political topic everywhere in Europe for the past 20 ears at least. This project is made to be polemical and to raise such topics. that what makes it real.
even non – authenticity can be authentic – like Las Vegas – its that unauthentic and surreal, that it is authentic in its original way and definetly has a genius loci.
So could this mountain have. It is taht big, that out of context, taht surreal, that it is fantastic and could become a part of a culture.
in fact – all architecture is not authentic – it is an artificial shelter – an artificial modern cave. But we make it authentic, because we bring some spririt – piece of us, an artistic expression – thats authentic. and the idea behind this is that simple and pure that it is definetly authentic – it is not a bulding that tries to look like a mountain (thats not very authentic, sorry BIG). it IS a mountain.
I think it would be more likely that they would demolish a mountain like this if it would exist from the begining for making space for buildings as making one.
On the other I think its quite interesting.
Not crazy at all, just worrying…
Gosh yeah, thats a pretty good joke. Talk about parody.
A recently overheard conversation between Berlin politicians:
German 1: Hey, what should we do with that airport that closed?
German 2: Gee, I don’t know, just let it sit there I guess.
German 1: Well, what if we build a mountain there? Ha! a mountain in the center of Berlin! Hilarious!
German 2: Hahaha, that would be incredibly stupid. But funny!
At least I hope thats how it went. Maybe, in the end, this will get built, and then who will the joke be on?
I’m sure we could find an extra 1000 meter mountain in Alaska. Could let them have it for, say, half a trillion dollars, and deliver it for, oh, another half a trillion dollars.
Jobs + Deficit reduction all in one neat package, tada!
wow. interesting. i would say it is in fact architecture, however….
i love berlin. I would not want anything to have that much of an unpredictable impact on berlin.
i mean its fake anyway
i hope people understand that the design must be a sort of projected sociological experiment, not a real construct….therefore who cares how it would be possible.
It is perhaps an exaggeration that makes us consider the impacts of architecture.
this looks very similar to cathedral peak in the high sierra’s of california
http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=44574
if you’re going to build a mountain, at least build one that doesn’t exist
Yeah… great point that…
i would say please do it.
to change the topography can create more than a resort for the people live in urban on a plain. somehow it can help to release the pressure of living in such density.
romantically , it bring back “sublime”
but will the system of animals work according to his drawing? it’s a more complicated thing than that i think
This project is very much a dream idea. Such make it economily expensive. Has an architecture student, I think it is a great idea and ridiculous at the same time. Why should we build a mountain and call it architecture?
I bet Germany gat loads of mountainous areas whereby people such as tourist can visit. But this??????
JEAN NOUVEL DID SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THOUGH MUCH SMALLER I GUESS, WITH ACCOMODATION INSIDE
This guy has just solved the problem of what to do with the world’s garbage for the next 20 years……
@ amr….. good comment and a funy too… yup he just solved the garbage probelm … hahahahaha… lol *can’t stop laughing*
I think this project is very pretentious and expensive .. I hope that is within an ‘urban planning perspective, covering not only the object end in itself but that it represents the’ opening words to a re-naturalization of the city! function which is The Berg may be questionable .. I wonder if the animals and vegetation to be established at a certain price does not suffer damage from other pollution concentrations of ‘air of a city like Berlin!
cmq think it’s a great challenge and is perhaps what we need to stir the souls dozing on topics such as’ environment!
It amazes me how bent out of shape people get over an interesting and witty proposal.
someone heard my prayers … I’m packing to head to the “Magic Mountain” … my dream comes true, hehehe … living the wild! uhh, uppps, it’s architecture? sorry
This IS architecture in sense of designing space.
This would be wonderfully lunatic but yet, marvellous!
– architect -
I just want to put in that hungarian artist Antal Lakner has done the same project and idea in 1999, 10 years before Jakob Tigges.
It was called: ‘Bundesberg’
http://www.nol.hu/kep/97215
Here is an animation about ‘Bundesberg’ from 2005:
http://www.3gstudio.hu/hu/animacio-referencia/bundesberg-berlin-animacio-2005.html
jason go read your rem!
This had happened in ancient China for many times!!
Hilarious. I would hear what a geologist says about this joke…
WHY???
Man has always built monuments and this is another. Is this project seen by the people who will ultimately be paying for the structure, as beneficial? Do they want/ like the idea? It is in their city after all. If it ends up as a monumental cost to the city which cripples the tax payer, and the standard of life less enhanced, then I would question it. However, if it celebrated and indeed provides a quality of life then surely it can only be a good thing. Art has always mimicked nature.
It does not matter who has done what before, the fact is if it works.. celebrate … but thorough homework first or it could cripple. Extremely brave.
yawn
please build a lot of them, also in munich, especially munich, and add some stanglwirt replicas. hope that will stop these annoying germans from travelling to austria and occupying our mountains.
germans are rated top of the worst behaving tourists. they come here and tell the locals how to behave and our politicians stick their heads up their backside looking for cheap euros instead of trying to create real jobs here. what a sell-out.
go artificcial mountains!
There is an interesting point here,
when there is no empty space to build , we build scyscrapers
when there is no empty space to find nature, we build mountains…
Landslides, water run off, blocking out the sun to certain parts of the city, sourcing all the earth and rock required.
Sounds dumb
mislim da to ni primerno in da se takoj ukinejo takšne stvari lp
isn’t it the tower of babel?
well, nature have been crying out loud because of human… what now?
This is bulls*%t…some people just don’t know where to put their money…I doubt the architect even heard of Africa,and how many hungry people are there…
Bono-Bono! :)
I just did some small calculations:
With a diameter of 1500m it would have a volume of 7,000,000,000 m3
with an average truck that can load 50 m3 a time.
They would need 100000 trucks a day and even than it would take them 5 years to complete this.
So better start building the road to the site -.-
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