Berlin › Bikini Berlin

The Concept Shopping Mall

This is where architecture meets Oooh, history meets Aaaah, culinary delights meet Mmmh – and all together for visitors who don’t just go shopping between history and modern design, but also rediscover an old virtue: strolling.

Bikini Berlin stands for a new concept of the listed building complex at the Berlin Zoological Garden: an urban oasis in the middle of the city, an urban hub and social universe. In this way, the change and success of City West is significantly influenced.

A SPECIAL PIECE OF BERLIN

In addition to the Bikinihaus opposite the Memorial Church, the listed Bikini Berlin area also includes the large high-rise building on Hardenbergplatz, the Zoo Palast cinema, the small high-rise building with the 25hours Hotel and the multi-storey car park at the aquarium.

The heart of the building ensemble is the legendary Bikinihaus with a total length of 200 meters. This also gave Bikini Berlin its name: Bikinihaus was the colloquial name for the building in Berlin in the 1950s. Because once an air story framed by columns on the second floor divided the building into an upper and a lower area. This two-part architecture, which is now fully glazed, reminded Berliners of swimwear, which was still young and daring at the time.

The Bikinihaus houses the world’s first concept shopping mall. It sees itself – in consistent differentiation from conventional shopping centers – as a compilation of carefully curated and coordinated boutiques and gastronomy offers. The modular pop-up boxes are also an elementary part of the concept shopping mall. They can be rented temporarily – just like Berlin’s pop-up store style. Well-known brands can launch new products in the boxes or young designers can present their creations to the public for the first time without any major hurdles.

In the middle of the Bikini Mall is the SLP gallery, one of Berlin’s artistic hotspots, which focuses on social and ecological issues. The current exhibition Monochrome is dedicated to the works of 4 international artists who take up social issues in their own way.

Travelharry tip: The highlight of the Bikinihaus is the 7,000 m², freely accessible, green roof terrace: the Bikini Berlin Shopping Garden, which is based on New York’s Highline Park and offers a spectacular view over the zoo.