Mr. Kalandides, why is Berlin more creative than other German cities?
Because it has a special mixture of many designers, good training institutions for creative professions and numerous international fairs and exhibitions. Berlin embodies the legend of a free, international city. The fall of the Wall sparked things off. Twenty years ago the classic power elites in east and west crumbled. Suddenly everything was in a state of flux. Everyone who came here had the feeling that the creative cake hadn’t been shared out yet. Everyone could still grab a piece. And it’s the same today: everyone can get involved here and fulfil themselves.
But don’t all these factors exist in other German cities as well?
No. Not in this concentration and not with the same dynamics. Hamburg is a creative city. But it has nothing to compare with Berlin’s exhibitions, things like the fashion events of Fashion Week or Bread & Butter.
How does Berlin’s creativity compare with other major cities, for instance London or New York?
Unlike Berlin these cities have a high concentration of capital. Berlin isn’t an international financial centre. But this gives Germany’s capital city two advantages: the other cities are simply too expensive for designers to survive. That’s why many creative people come to Berlin from other countries. And the other cities are too well-established; they lack the lightness, the underground scene – Berlin has it.
Create Berlin, your network for Berlin’s design community, organizes many exhibitions abroad. How great is the interest in creative Berlin from abroad?
Berlin is a brand name, it is added value for every product. As soon as the city’s name crops up at a trade fair, people come flocking. Mind you, the interest displayed in New York isn’t as strong as in other European countries or Japan.
Ares Kalandides, born 1965, is a director at Create Berlin, an urban planner, economic location advisor and marketing expert
