Reunification Architecture: Reconstructing Memory and National Identity in Post-Wall Berlin Part 2 Dissertation 2026 Ben Purkis University of Hertfordshire | UK This dissertation examines how architecture and urban space have contributed to the process of reunification in Berlin following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It argues that the built environment of Berlin is not just a consequence of the reunification process but instead is a critical component in negotiating the social, cultural, and spatial challenges inherited from decades of division. Through architecture and urban planning, Berlin has had to reconcile two opposing ideological systems, distinct urban forms, and the differing collective identities shaped by East and West.The research I have conducted analyses a collection of key case studies, including Potsdamer Platz, the Reichstag Building, and the Topography of Terror. These precedents are selected to understand how architecture has functioned as a record of division and its evolution since the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as its contribution to the reunification of Germany and the negotiation of Berlin's urban landscape. This dissertation utilises qualitative visual analysis methods, including annotated site photography and spatial analysis, which are informed by architectural and urban theories in relation to the core theme of why architecture has been successful in the reunification process in Berlin. The main body of the dissertation is structured around three core themes and ideals that reunification architecture aims to enable and incorporate: national identity, political unity, and collective memory. These three themes, in unison, demonstrate how Berlin’s architecture after 1989 responded to the challenges of reunification by addressing issues of segregation, unity, and identity. Tutor(s) Ben Campbell Thomas Trail