Alexanderplatz in the Mornings

I was fortunate to study at the School of Architecture in Volos, Greece at a time when it had just opened and was still taking shape.

The visionary head of the department, Mr. Lazaridis, set it all in motion. Together with the remarkable energy and dedication of certain professors, we learned to see architecture not only in relation to buildings but in a much broader sense.

We explored architecture's relationship with art and emerging technologies, society, politics, history, the culture of everyday life, and philosophy. But above all, we focused on the relationship between architecture and the city.

In many courses — ones that filled the lecture hall and held our attention throughout the semester — we explored these connections. One of them was "The City in Cinema." Each week we watched a film and then discussed how the city was captured on screen.

In one of those screenings we watched Walther Ruttmann's documentary "Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis." A silent, black-and-white film from the 1920s, that essentially records a full day in Berlin of that era — from the early morning until night, showing how the city unfolds over the course of a day.

The idea that I would one day live in Berlin didn't exist as a thought back then. What stayed with me was the way the city's atmosphere shifts from hour to hour — the opening scenes of the city waking up, people heading to work, shops opening, trains coming and going.

We now come to the present day, almost 100 years after the film, in the same city.

Alexanderplatz, 7:30 a.m.

One of the busiest areas in Berlin, with its large square, shopping centers, hotels, the major train station, and iconic landmarks such as the TV Tower and the World Clock.

The train station was one of the earliest achievements of the Industrial Revolution in the city, while the two buildings that define the square are landmarks of Weimar Republic modern architecture. The TV Tower, built in 1969 in the midst of the Wall, stands as one of the most symbolically charged monuments of the 20th century in Berlin.

Alexanderplatz also holds a special place in Berlin's mythology — from Döblin and cinema, to its role as the center of East Berlin, the mass demonstrations of 1989, and the fall of the Wall.

Today, thousands of residents and tourists pass through here every day. The crowds and tourist pressure are such that, if you can avoid it, you do.

The only moment you can experience it in any kind of general calm is early in the morning. The shops are still closed, and the only people moving through are a handful of residents heading to the station for work, delivery workers, and cleaners. These early morning hours give a different sense of the city's busiest area — one that becomes even more striking at this time of year, as winter retreats and the light begins to change.

And almost 100 years on, whatever the rest of the day may bring, the city still seems to wake up in the same way.