The whole world has taken heart from the international effort which has goine into the reconstruction of the splendid Frauenkirche, which stands at the centre of the Neumarkt here in Dresden.   This rich, and lovingly-crafted, church stands in visible and firm opposition to the nihilism and cultural impoverishment that overshadowed the last half of the twentieth century.   There is still a chance that the rest of the reconstructed Neumarkt could do the same.   A great jewel requires a worthy setting....

I have long been concerned with the life of the environment around buildings like the Frauenkirche, which serve so well to define a great city: Paternoster Square next to St Paul's Cathedral in London; the Schlossplatz in front of the Nikolaikirche in Potsdam; and that next to the Cathedral in Berlin  -  all of these places devastated not just by War, but also by the shortsightedness of planners and architects in the post-War years.

Planners and architects, working together with citizens and local politicians, now have a chance to put such things right again.   In 1996 and 1997 I mounted Urban Design task Forces in Potsdam and Berlin in an effort to bring together these different interests, and their effects are still being felt today.   Now "A Vision of Europe" and "INTBAU"  -  working with a number of my own alumni  -  have followed this lead, to come up with the detailed proposals for a Neumarkt able to serve as an organic bridge between the past and the future.

I have never sought to champion one architectural style over any other, but rather to encourage designers to consult the enduring spirit of each place in which they work, and  - above all  -  to ensure that a real choice for the future is offered to citizens, young and old alike.   One thing an exhibition like this will ensure is that the citizens of Dresden do no have to settle for a fait accompli at the Neumarkt.

I know that many people  -  visitors as well as citizens of Dresden  -  yearn to see the historic form of the Neumarkt restored.   They yearn to see beauty and elegance restored once again as an antidote to so much of the ugliness and brutality of the 20th century.   Beyond that, they would like to see the humane and civilised qualities of the buildings that once occupied this place extended to other new construction in the city, and beyond.   I welcome the fact that, here, today, this yearning is beginning to assume a tangible form, and I pray with all my heart that, at last, people will be offered a real choice about the future of this great city.

Charles

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