Berlin starts the New Year with one of the most successful fashion events not only of Germany – the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. Fashion victims, designer, models, starlets, actors and all people with a passion for fine clothing will hit the city and spread across shows, stores, galleries, restaurants and clubs. Main events taking place from January 19th till January 22nd at Bebelplatz, right in the historic centre of Berlin. The fashion epic centre is located near the pulsing hip district Mitte whit all its fancy shops and galleries. The historic part of Berlin along the street “Unter den Linden” stretches from the well known “Brandenburger Tor” all the way to the Alexanderplatz. The main tent of Fashion Week stands right in front of Rocco Forte’s glitzy 5* Hotel de Rome. The “Gendarmenmarkt” and Berlins shopping street “Friedrichstrasse”, Berlins world famous Museum Island are also right around the corner. Fashion and design are inevitable interconnected and so is architecture and design. When strolling through the streets of Berlin there are great examples of good architecture around. My favourites around these neighbourhoods are the “Neue Nationalgalerie” built by architecture icon Mies van der Rohe, the “Deutsches Historisches Museum” by I.M. Pei and Frank O Gehry’s designed headquarter of DZ Bank with its awesome interior space.

Only a stone’s throw away is Berlin’s newest and most sophisticated luxury residential development Yoo Berlin. At Yoo Berlin, fashion meets design and architecture in a very sexy way. Interiors are designed by noted designer Philippe Starck who set footprints all over the world already. I am pretty sure there will be some fantastic events held in Berlin, and clubs will be filled up by all the fashion victims from around the globe.  So get your dancing shoes ready to celebrate Germanys hottest fashion nights.

Posted by:  Peter Rabitz

Seems that Berlins tough times are going to be history in near future, at least signs of recovery are obvious everywhere. Outlook for the once divided city is bright and the German capital gains more and more attention and recognition world wide. Celebrating 20 years of reunification, Berlin uses its not so glamorous past to show off its free and affluent future.

For me, Berlin has been and still is Germany’s SOHO, Greenwich, Wapping, Notting Hill or what ever other trendy city quarter you like to name. Soon after the wall came down, creative’s, artists and musicians moved to Berlin and enjoyed the open minded and free spirit you could and still can experience everywhere. The city is undergoing a transformation into a very much hot spot in Germany. Berlin’s trendsetter potential is well known and a recently published article in the Telegraph headlines their story the following “Berlin joins the cool crowd” what perfectly describes the city’s current status.
 

Sometimes, I believe all these positive news about Berlin’s growth and bright future outlook is so new to the city that it’s hard for Berliners to handle them and so it’s still very common to question everything rather than believe in the good. Of course, there is still a long way to go considering where the city is coming from and what difficulties it had to deal with – financial, economical and social wise. Therefore, it’s even more welcome when positive news makes a circuit.

Just today, Financial Times Germany published an article called “The capital on a roll” where they look at Berlin under the attention of the new international airport BBI who is scheduled to open for business in June 2012. The newly constructed Willy-Brandt-Airport, named after the former politician, is located in the very south of Berlin and will replace all three existing airports (airport Tempelhof already closed for business). The new and approx 2 Billion Euro expensive airport is planed to handle up to 27 million travellers with an additional extension planed to handle up to 45 million passengers in the end. Right now, the airport will rank Germanys 3rd largest after Frankfurt and Munich. Politics and economy link great hope with the airport. The region Berlin-Brandenburg is booming for quite some time, but which is barely perceived. A recent city ranking by the “Hamburgerisches Weltwirtschaftsinstitute” (HWWI) did take a look at 30 German cities where Berlin made a jump from the 24th to the 8th rank. HWWI boss Thomas Straubhaar states: “The growth engine started and locational advantages such as education, accessibility improved by far and continue to have an effect.
 

Berlin’s senator for economics states: “Already this year, the real national output will be higher than before the crises.” The long time not recognized industry is going to become more important again and the new BBI airport is a very important prerequisite for even more growth.

We experience Berlins increasing appeal by a broad range of interested parties from all over the globe looking for real estate opportunities in Berlin. We are proud to be able to offer them one of the most sparkling luxury residential developments currently available – Yoo Berlin. With celebrating the ground breaking ceremony few weeks ago and construction on its way, the development will be scheduled to open in 2013. Just last week, I was happy to attend the official launch party of the Yoo Berlin by Philippe Starck development which took place at the projects beautiful showroom, located on site. Philippe Starck - the iconic star designer, Eike Becker – the architect of the buildings exterior, Dr. Thomas Wolfelsberger – CEO of Peach Property Group (the developer), Jon Hitchcox – co-founder of Yoo and many other guests form showbiz, culture and economic gathered at the successful launch party. Yoo Berlin is going to be Berlin’s most successful luxury residential development with already 30% of all planed 87 apartments sold off plan. Yoo Berlin, the city’s most luxurious new scheme will be home to apartments, townhouses and penthouses as well as a boutique hotel and some small commercial units. The glamorous 10-storey block is located right on the river Spree and in close proximity to the governmental district, the famous shopping street Friedrichstrasse and all the fancy restaurants, bars and galleries of Berlin Mitte.

I am looking forward to go back to Berlin for another trip and would be happy to provide all interested people with more detailed information on Yoo Berlin or any other possible real estate opportunities. Please contact me me for more information.

Posted by:  Peter Rabitz

There are not many places on earth famous for their rich culture and feel of the “Arabian Nights” like Marrakech, Morocco. The city attracts a number of celebrities from all over the world and is well known for the spiritual experience its magical Medina offers. A-listers like Naomi Campbell, Jennifer Aniston, Madonna, Brad Pit, the Beckhams and many more already visited Marrakech where they enjoyed the bustling life of its ancient streets. Some of them loved it so much that they chose Marrakech for a vacation pied-à-terre where they bought either a beautiful riad within the Medina of Marrakech or a traditional Moroccan property in the outskirts of the city.

The latest coup is a luxurious development in the suburbs of Marrakech, where 15 villas are being built at the luxury five star Baglioni Marrakech Resort. Fashionista hottie Jade Jagger teamed up with design firm Yoo on the interior design of 15 villas. Jagger already worked with Yoo on their projects in New York, Dubai and Manchester. Yoo is well known for eccentric designed real estate where designer luminaries such as Philippe Starck styled the interior of apartments and penthouses, which soon became almost collector’s sough-after properties. The current most recognized development by Yoo is its development in Berlin where Philippe Starck designed the interior of all apartments, penthouses and townhouses.
 

It is very interesting to see how the Yoo style blends in with the typical Moroccan architecture. Jade Jagger planned a mixture of typical Yoo design elements in a combination with traditional Moroccan décor and ornaments implemented in the overall design. The architecture is very sleek and almost contemporary. For those who are more into the typical Moroccan architecture and design, and who are fans of the lifestyle within the walls of Marrakech’s Medina, Wetag Consulting is offering two very sophisticated luxury riads, located in the Dar El Bacha district, the most prestigious ZIP code in Marrakech’s Medina. The two riads offer a very luxurious lifestyle with all amenities you don’t want to miss, including home theatre, indoor pool, sauna/hamam, wine cellar, gym and much more. In close proximity to the guest house of the Moroccan King and not far from the airport, these riads offer Moroccan lifestyle at its best.

Posted by:  Peter Rabitz

What does a Lamborghini, a Stealth Fighter and Daniel Libeskind have in common? Well, it’s pretty simple if you picture the finished product. All of them enjoy the beauty of really great cutting edge design philosophies, boasting awesome attention to detail, employing lines and geometric forms far beyond “normal”.

Lamborghini, the high-end Italian luxury sports car manufacture just revealed its latest model, the Lamborghini Reventon Roadster, at the Frankfurt 2009 Auto Show. The super car, carrying a million-euro price tag, is based on the already extreme Murcielago, but upgrades on the Reventon coupe’s fighter jet-inspired styling with an open-air body style.

The Stealth Fighter, an aircraft that use stealth technology to interfere with radar detection by employing a combination of features to reduce visibility in the visual, audio, infrared and radio frequency spectrum, is a proud example of modern aircraft technology by the US military. Even I don’t like to talk too much about all the war toys out there, but the very strong design really catches me when I see images of the aircraft because it’s so unique and outstanding.

Unique and outstanding are the keywords where Daniel Libeskind steps into the game. His architecture is one of the most recognized in the world due to the unusual design vocabulary he uses. Libeskind’s design is always controversial and divides viewers into two parties, the one who likes it and the one who hates it. No question that I obviously belong to the people who like his work.

I’ve admired his work for quite a time, but when I visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin shortly after its completion yet before the exhibition was installed, the space really blew me away. His use of angles, surfaces, colours, slits, windows and his different understanding of forms and spaces really created one of the most impressive spaces I have experienced.

Libeskind is renowned for his multidisciplinary approach to architecture. His designs reflect his close connection to arts such as music and literature. In 2003, he won the World Trade Center design competition. Additional works include the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, the Extension of the Denver Art Museum and the Imperial War Museum in Manchester besides many others.

Nevertheless, Libeskind never really delved in single residential designs except a fantastic weekend retreat in Connecticut he designed for friends. The space, called 18.36.54, is formed by a spiraling ribbon of 18 planes, defined by 36 points connected by 54 lines. This living sculpture literally already shows Libeskind’s great ability to create impressive spaces which combines the house as being a piece of art itself as well as high-end living using the finest materials. The Villa, Daniel Libeskind’s first signature series home, creates a new dialogue between contemporary living and a completely new experience of space. Highly limited to a total of 30 villas which will be distributed globally, Villa Libeskind in Ticino, Switzerland is the first offer out of the limited edition to be up for sale. In one of the most sought-after locations on Lago Maggiore featuring stunning views of the lake, the Villa is like a crystal growing from rock, boasting dramatic, unique architecture in an equally unique and stunning location. Fundamental to Libeskind’s philosophy is the notion that buildings and urban projects are crafted with perceptible human energy, and that they address the greater cultural context in which they are built. With his contribution, the Villa becomes not just a home, but a paradise for lovers of architecture.

Posted By: Peter Rabitz