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Berlin Living Rooms

theparisreview.org

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Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#31

Post by linkmotif »

colmvp wrote: post #2

Having looked at some of the photos, one of the things that I notice is a lack of televisions which I see amongst sometimes with my friends. I find when I go to my friends living room with a PS4 and tv, we generally chat for a few minutes before diving into games or videos. Or if I go to another friends place, they feel obligated to entertain instead of allowing one another to be he entertainment. And while I certain…

Nothing like a television to make your room look garish! Or to ruin the potential to hang out or go on and do something else.

Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#32

Post by et-al »

mxfh wrote: post #4

Calling them living rooms is a bit of a misnomer for most of them, representational guest zone in uncommonly large apartments of the Berlin cultural elite might be a bit more honest description. The last two (Blechschmidt and Hubalek) might be actual living room arrangements.

> Calling them living rooms is a bit of a misnomer for most of them

Living room, family room, and den always confused me when I was a kid. In the States, "living room" means a more formal room for entertaining guests (coffee table with thick art monographs) and it'd often be adjacent to the dining room. In contrast, the "family room" or "den" are places where people would spend most of their time and that's where the television would be.

Don't ask me how the room came to be called "living room" since most people don't spend much time there to the point that some houses would have the couches covered in plastic or bedsheets.

Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#33

Post by et-al »

fnord123 wrote: post #19
shaqbert wrote: post #12

Berliner here.... the sad truth is that most living rooms are dominated by Ikea furniture and are nowhere near like the stylish and classical ensembles presented in the article.

Yeah, and that Barcelona chair can't be an inexpensive yet faithful reproduction due to the dreadful European laws on furniture designs. It's a 5k piece on its own.

Wait, please tell me more about these inexpensive yet faithful reproductions. Is there good place in Germany to find these?

Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#34

Post by eru »

jfk13 wrote: post #11
eru wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also heard that louder places sell more alcoholic drinks?

Or, places that sell more alcoholic drinks tend to get louder?

I think there were some controlled experiments to answer that question.

Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#35

Post by rak00n »

colmvp wrote: post #2

Having looked at some of the photos, one of the things that I notice is a lack of televisions which I see amongst sometimes with my friends. I find when I go to my friends living room with a PS4 and tv, we generally chat for a few minutes before diving into games or videos. Or if I go to another friends place, they feel obligated to entertain instead of allowing one another to be he entertainment. And while I certain…

You made me curious. What are those podcasts?

Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#36

Post by santaclaus »

krzyk wrote: post #27
eru wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As mxfh pointed out, these are guest-welcoming areas of rich people. Elite people in Germany (pretend to) not watch much TV. (I never owned a TV, within or without Germany.)

In my circle of friends only minority has TVs, we are more of a Internet generation, TV lacks interactivity and limits selection. BTW. I'm not from Germany and never lived there.

Internet connectivity and screen size are fairly orthogonal.

Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#37

Post by fnord123 »

et-al wrote: post #33
fnord123 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, and that Barcelona chair can't be an inexpensive yet faithful reproduction due to the dreadful European laws on furniture designs. It's a 5k piece on its own.

Wait, please tell me more about these inexpensive yet faithful reproductions. Is there good place in Germany to find these?

The UK used to allow inexpensive replicas. e.g.

https://iconicinteriors.com/

As seen in 10 Downing Street:

http://www.redonline.co.uk/red-women/blogs/samcam-s-italian-...

(Forgive me for the Daily Heil link): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2926668/A-real-pow...

A law change is coming into effect now so all the UK retailers of this kind of stuff need to dump stock and go out of business. Otherwise, you can get them in the US but shipping will be eye watering.

Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#38

Post by jackhack »

colmvp wrote: post #2

Having looked at some of the photos, one of the things that I notice is a lack of televisions which I see amongst sometimes with my friends. I find when I go to my friends living room with a PS4 and tv, we generally chat for a few minutes before diving into games or videos. Or if I go to another friends place, they feel obligated to entertain instead of allowing one another to be he entertainment. And while I certain…

>>they feel obligated to entertain instead of allowing one another to be he entertainment

A most excellent pithy summary!!

When I have friends over, we end up in my workshop or the kitchen or just sitting on the stairs by the front door, talking. I've tried to raise my kids to appreciate that, for adults, switching on a television or bringing out a cellphone while in the company of another is a rude gesture and a signal : "you bore me."

Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#39

Post by Symbiote »

fnord123 wrote: post #19
shaqbert wrote: post #12

Berliner here.... the sad truth is that most living rooms are dominated by Ikea furniture and are nowhere near like the stylish and classical ensembles presented in the article.

Yeah, and that Barcelona chair can't be an inexpensive yet faithful reproduction due to the dreadful European laws on furniture designs. It's a 5k piece on its own.

Are they so dreadful?

It's copyright of a design, and ultra-fancy furniture is hardly a necessity.

Re: Berlin Living Rooms

#40

Post by bogomipz »

The article mentions:

>"East Berlin had Alexanderplatz; West Berlin had Europa Center ..."

I know Alexanderplatz but can someone tell me where is/was Europa Center?

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