Assignment 3.5 Karlsplatz Shopping Center

As I work through these individual "photo explorations" some will be scouting missions such as the photos of the Bahnhof, others more thought out and closer to the final set of photos that I could use as an assignment submission, such as the Underpass.  This set of images are in the former category and are simply some sample shots to understand whether this could be a possibility.

The location is a new shopping center built directly underneath Karlsplatz, also know as Stachus to the locals.  Karlsplatz is a large road, tram, and subway junction on the western edge of the the shopping district.  In a gallery bellow ground, but directly above the subway station is a large shopping complex that has just undergone renovation.  The old shopping area was grey and gloomy, the new one is bright and clearly much effort has gone into providing a clean and inviting environment to visit.  The roof tiling, consisting of large white disks is particularly striking the first time you encounter it.  Here are 6 images that attempt to capture the feeling of the space created.  In most of these images I have tried to include shoppers and give a sense of the business of the location as well as its architectural merits.

First the roofing, this is a section containing directions to different subway and tram lines

Although the ceiling is low for a shopping center, the area still feels very spacious

The shopping center also contains many fast food bars, adding colour and drawing people into locations in which they can be photographed

The access into and out of the shopping center adds some structure into the environment, this is a pair of staircases heading up to a cinema complex just above the shopping complex

The entrance to the underground station:

This shopping center offers much in the way of opportunity for this assignment as it combines a very busy area with quite unusual and striking architectural features.  It is also in a very touristic part of Munich and so taking photographs is unlikely to lead to challenges.  Another advantage is that all lighting is artificial and so time of day or weather conditions will not affect the photographs, meaning that I can visit pretty much any time when the shops are open and achieve consistent results.  The challenge will be to find interesting enough angles and locations to create the quality of photograph I want to achieve.