Doing Almost Nothing

W.I.P. by J.Y.Ooi


part i

  1. Preface
  2. Kurfürstendamm
  3. Prehistory
  4. Dichotomy of Ku’damm

part ii

  1. Aggregate and Adler
  2. Crisis
  3. Brief

part iii

  1. Precarity
  2. Emancipation
  3. Plans
  4. Trajectory
  5. Outcome(?)

PART IV

  1. References
  2. Credit

Dichotomy of Ku’damm




“This store isn’t just a retail space—it’s a dialogue with Berlin’s past and future. The Ku’damm is where revolutions, both political and technological, are showcased.”

— Tim Cook (on Apple Store Ku’damm opening, 2021)


Ruin and Renewal    

  • Eastern Section: A blend of sleek post-war skyscrapers and ornate Wilhelmine-era tenements (four-story residential buildings from the late 19th/early 20th century, characterized by elaborate facades and high-density housing).

  • Central and Western Sections: Scattered wartime ruins and hollowed-out structures stand alongside Notbauten (emergency post-war buildings erected on cleared rubble plots), creating an eerie juxtaposition of decay and improvisation (Figs. 1, 2).

Daytime Commerce and Nightlife

  • Daytime Pulse: The Zoologischer Garten district, anchored by upscale boutines and the iconic Memorial Church, thrives as a retail hub. Its energy overshadows the western sector’s aging residential blocks, emblematic of the avenue’s uneven development.

  • Evening Transition: By dusk, neon-lit cafés near the Memorial Church buzz with tourists, while the Tauentzienstraße—a commercial thoroughfare—empties post-7 PM. The western Kurfürstendamm, however, retains vitality through bars and theaters.

Exclusivity and Inclusivity

  • Luxury and Economic Stratification: Tauentzienstraße’s luxury flagship stores and the Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe), where architecture and retail curate exclusionary spaces for transnational elites. It acts as a socio-economic filter, a starking contrast as opposed to the frugal consumerism of nearby Wilmersdorfer Straße. The store’s mirrored façades and marble-clad entrances, designed to reflect exclusivity, embody what Bourdieu called “distinction tactics,” physically demarcating class boundaries.

  • Public Spaces and Affordable Imperatives: ???