quick note from berlin

just arrived at 8am this morning, and to curb jetlag i already hit a few SPLENDID galleries around oranienbürger straße, where i am staying at toni´s flat. so yes, already i am struck by that fabulously berlin characeristic of purposeful architectural dilapidation. victor hugo called paris a palimpsest, but i think the term is much more apt for berlin... the layers upon layers of history that has been allowed to accrue on buildings because of war destruction and communist neglect is incredible to view. the very-oh-so-american concept of renovation is absent here (at least in terms of gallery and museum spaces. and toni´s building.). case in point, this afternoon i went to C/O Berlin. holy hell, not only were the photo portraits by wowe STUNNING, but the building itself was fascinating. it was once the old central imperial post office, and where i could imagine that a new york gallery would clean off the peeling paint, rip up the semi-intact old floor tiles, or add more ventilation/light to the large staircase, berliners consciously leave it all as is. and it was gorgeously fantastic.