Berlin's campaign to be a candidate for hosting the Olympic Games in 2000
Client: Olympia Berlin 2000 GmbH; Agency: Michael Schirner Werbe- und Projektagentur GmbH; Copywriters: Michael Schirner, Enrique Jungbauer; Art Director: Hans Peter Weiß
5 Landsberger Allee
Olympics 2000
At the beginning of the 1990s, while reunification was in full swing, the Berlin Senate decided that the city would apply to host the summer Olympic Games in the year 2000. The city’s candidacy was intended to form part of an urban regeneration plan and at the same time symbolise overcoming the oppositions between East and West. This controversial step led to resentment and protests among the local population, many of whom believed that the city’s needs lay elsewhere.
Eventually, in 1993, Sydney was chosen as the host city for the 2000 Olympic Games and Berlin’s Olympic plans remained unfulfilled. Construction was never started on a vast multi-purpose hall on what is now the site of the Foreign Intelligence Service in Mitte. By contrast, the Max-Schmeling-Halle, the Europasportpark (SSE) and the Velodrom on Landsberger Allee were all completed and are still regarded to this day as architectural relics of an Olympic Games that never took place. Now, in 2026, Berlin once again finds itself in an application process to host the Olympic Games.
For What If Berlin, Akira Takayama transposes unrealised projects from the archives of the Berliner Festspiele and other Berlin cultural institutions, as well as from architects and artists, into the present and asks us which vision we want to realise in the future.
The future vision for the project Olympics 2000, that will be presented in the frame of What If Berlin from 28 August 2026 onwards, will respond to the following question: What if water shaped the vision and design of Berlin’s next Olympics?
Which of the 27 visions for the future is the most exciting? Which project does Berlin need in future? Which idea should actually be realised?
Until 30 September 2026, you can vote for up to three of the 27 visions for the future. The results will be displayed live to give the latest impression of the public’s reactions.