“The Once and Future Site of the U.S. Embassy Berlin” A Discursive Analysis of Planning, Negotiation, and Reception

摘要

This paper examines the discourse surrounding the planning, negotiation, and reception stages of the U.S. Embassy at Pariser Platz in Berlin, which imbued the building with a highly politicized symbolic nature. Much more than simply a building, the architecture of the U.S. Embassy made a u22statement,u22 which acquired meaning through the discursive formations of Berlin as a u22global city,u22 the guiding doctrine of Berlin as u22critically reconstructed,u22 and the United Statesu27 security presence in post-Wall Berlin. This discourse focused not only on the present form of the building, but also on the siteu27s historical form and visions of the siteu27s future. Diverging interpretations of the U.S. Embassy along national lines, concerning the balance of security with transparency both in government and in public space, revealed and even helped shape a new relationship between the former guest--a u22protective poweru22 during the Cold War--and its host city of Berlin