Dillinger heavy plate for the
Sony Center in Berlin

Germany’s new focal point is Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, and since June 2000 the focal point of Potsdamer Platz has been the new Sony Center. In addition to housing the German headquarters of the world-famous Japanese electronics giant, the Sony Center also accommodates offices, residential apartments, restaurants, cafés and the Berlin film museum. The structure’s spacious atrium is covered in by a 4,000 square meter, elliptically contoured screen which, in suitable weather, can be partially opened. The design originated from Helmut Jahn. The screen consists of glass, belts of fabric, rope – and steel, supporting the whole. This roof structure appears to float above the Sony Center as if totally weightless. A clever illusion – the steel content alone weighs 600 tonnes; but note that figure, again: only 600 tonnes. High-tensile-strength DI-MC and DILLIMAX branded steels supplied by Dillinger Hütte made this extremely lightweight structure possible.