Periscopic Passage
Leipziger Platz, Berlin
Architect: Müller Reimann Architekten
2002-2003

A curved passage through an office building on Leipziger Platz, in the newly re-developed centre of Berlin, offered the opportunity to create an inner space that would be completely different from the outer appearance of the building.

A bright wall with a different colour on either end leads into the space.  Because of the curved layout of the plan, only one colour would be perceptible at first.  But looking into the reflective opposing wall, one sees the blurred image of the other end of the passage, the second colour as well as the view out into the open space beyond.

The geometry and the choice of reflective materials both on the floor and on one of the walls thus create an endless play of colour and reflection, at the same time widening the space to twice its actual size.  The layout of a straight reflective wall joining into a curved wall even doubles the reflection.