In Berlin, art among the ruins
In 1990, the self-described "space researcher" opened up an art gallery in a one-story building near where the wall once carved Berlin in two...The location would become the legendary techno nightclub Tresor, a symbol for the chaos and creativity of post-reunification Berlin...
[Now he] has his sights set on something even grander.
A 20,000-square-meter, or 215,000-square-foot, former East German power plant, abandoned since 2001, is not only to be the site of the new Tresor, but also an art and cultural space to rival the world's well-regarded art temples.
"We can have something like the Tate Modern here as well," said Hegemann, invoking London's contemporary art museum, as he slouched in a rickety chair on the building's second floor. In front of him, the plant soared up in a virtual cathedral of pre-cast concrete and steel, its darkness pierced only by thin cracks of sunlight coming down from the rafters and the strange glow of blue fluorescent lights.
In a city struggling since its reunification to attract job-creating industries or blue chip companies, creative types like Hegemann have stepped in to fill the void. The capital's cultural attractions -- from all-hours clubs to back courtyard galleries and stately museums -- have become its calling cards and job motors.