Ever since pictures were brought into motion, Berlin has been one of Europe’s most important movie capitals. Now Berlin wanted to honour personalities who have made a major contribution to German cinema. Thus the Berlin Senate invited several international design offices to submit drafts of how to reorganise the central reservation of Potsdamer Straße (a previously unused area in the touristic city centre of Berlin) into the Boulevard of Stars.

The intention was to create more than a dead monument. In demand was a landmark that offers an experience to remember, that allows visitors to encounter their stars and promotes interaction with the ‘stars’ and dialogue between visitors.The main challenges for the design of the Boulevard of Stars result from the public situation: the staging has to be weather proof and vandal proof. And it is crucial that visitors understand easily how to use the interactive elements and feel encouraged to do so.

It has drawn huge crowds and become a must-see attraction for visitors to Berlin.

To go beyond the lining up of memento objects, an integrated staging was developed. It derives from the moment at which film creators present their work to the public and fans are able to get closer - walking across the red carpet before the premiere starts. The four key elements of a film premiere are translated into urban space: Red asphalt carpet, brass stars representing the personalities, spotlights and cameras pointing at the stars. Through the view of the abstracted cameras, visitors see the personality standing as a hologram on his/her brass star and can have a photo taken with them.