This Is Why You Want To Keep Your Architect Happy

The architect of a major Berlin railway station has won an unusual lawsuit against the station’s owner, in which it was alleged that cost-cutting measures by the railway authority (which resulted in a partial redesign) amounted to a “defacement” of the building. The presiding judge ruled that the station was indeed a work of art, and that the railway’s decision to change it without the architect’s permission caused significant harm to the design. The railway is appealing, but if appeals fail, the station will have to be rebuilt at a cost of €40m or more.