Westside shopping and leisure complex

The Westside Shopping and Leisure Centre, on the outskirts of Berne, Switzerland, is a multi-use facility with shops, restaurants, a swimming pool, conference spaces, residences, a hotel, fitness centers, and a movie theater. It was designed by international architect Daniel Libeskind and will be completed in October 2008. [Citation
last = Westside Bern Brünnen
first =
title = General Information
url=http://www.westside.ch/en/index/westside/westside_allgemeines.htm
accessdate = July 23, 2008]

Design

Despite its location east of the city, in Brünnen-Bern, Westside is urban in scale. According to Studio Daniel Libeskind’s website, the site brings “together the dimensions of commerce, culture and leisure." Positioned over a highway, the center overlooks an S-Bahn station and acts as a gateway to Bern. The complex is crystalline in structure; a steel concrete skeleton supports the center’s wood façade.

Cuts in the roof bring the changing daylight into the center’s two plazas. One plaza faces the surrounding Brünnen landscape and connects to the center’s bath, while the other plaza adjoins the hotel and cinema.

Windows tumble across the façade, bringing light into the building. This design evokes the erratic matrix of windows across Libeskind’s first major international success, the Jewish Museum Berlin. [Citation
last = Studio Daniel Libeskind
first =
title = Westside Shopping and Leisure Centre
url=http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/projects/show-all/westside-shopping-and-leisure-centre/ | accessdate = July 24, 2008]

Reaction

Critics, such as David Rogers of the Los Angeles-based Jerde Partnership, have faulted Bern for neglecting to integrate such a shopping center into the city’s urban fabric. A shopping center on the city’s periphery contributes to the disintegration of the city center and leads to a “loss of values,” he says. [cite news
last = Bechtel
first = Dale
title = International Architects Criticise Plans for Suburban Shopping Malls in Switzerland
pages =
publisher = SwissInfo.ch
date = 2006-08-06
url = http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=43&sid=6755503 | accessdate = 2008-07-23 ]

Defenders of Westside, such as Swiss architect Barbara Holzer, argue that Bern’s urban center is not under threat and that the shopping center instead offers “new urban spaces.” Westside, with its blend of commercial, residential and recreational spaces, exemplifies populist architecture and emphasizes public life. [cite news
last = Bechtel
first = Dale
title = International Architects Criticise Plans for Suburban Shopping Malls in Switzerland
pages =
publisher = SwissInfo.ch
date = 2006-08-06
url = http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=43&sid=6755503 | accessdate = 2008-07-23 ] Peter Keller, of the Zürich newspaper, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, adds that the shopping center suits its surrounding landscape and bears the striking signature of its architect. [cite news
last = Keller
first = Peter
title = Bald zu viele Konsumtempel

pages =
publisher = Neue Zürcher Zeitung
date = 2006-08-07
url =http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/wirtschaft/aktuell/bald_zu_viele_konsumtempel_1.788257.html
accessdate = 2008-07-23 ]

References