The Bikinihaus is the nickname Berliners gave this massive postwar building in the 1950s. An open-sided storey framed by columns on the second floor once separated the building into one upper and one lower area. For locals, the two-tier architecture, which today is fully glazed, reminded them of the daring new swimwear fashion of that time, the bikini.
Today, it's a sprawling, stylish complex, incorporating designer shopping, offices, cinema, recreation, an 'urban oasis' and a boutique hotel, 25 Hours. The shopping mall itself could be described as a three-storey megamall for affluent, arty hipsters. A minimal, stylish ‘experience’, featuring more esoteric brands than one would expect to find in the average identikit mall, as well as major international labels offering alternative spaces, Bikini Berlin bills itself as a ‘concept mall’ aimed at the ‘urban customer’.