Postfuhramt, Berlin, Portal

@Japanalia: There are even portraits of ancient heros from the past on the facade, who had some influence on the postal system. Imagine that on a modern building!

@Observing: I think it would still be possible, but profit-oriented corporations of today aren't interested in enriching the cityscape by means of beauty but only by primitive signs of power. Now style has to be 'international' (meaning: exchangeable), this phenomenon is comparable to the design of nowaday's shopping malls. Additionally I think there's some lack of ideas in recent public architecture, that is not necessarily a fault of the architects but of their orderers.

@MaryB: It's a really big complex! Capital architecture, so to say :-)

@Michael Skorulski: Some years ago it was a bit neglected. I must revisit the place and see if things got better.

@Evelyne Dubos: A remnant from former times when the postal system was a matter of the nation and not just another profit oriented business.

@Steven: It's really huge and a true landmark, even in this street that is filled with great buildings.

@drphoto: Definitely! There are many surprises hidden in the decor, something modern buildings never would dare to show.

@Twelvebit: I don't think so. I've written about these 12 Romanesque churches in Cologne that were almost completely destroyed in WW II and that were rebuilt up until the late 1980s. Many cities in Eastern Germany got a complete refurbishment by renovating many old buildings (Görlitz, for example). In Baroque times, many old buildings were broken down because of the new architecture of then. Neo-classicism was the reason to demolish many Baroque buildings; between 1870 and 1914 many old buildings were pulled down to make room for buildings in historicist style.
Orderers of former times usually wanted to have a monument when they ordered a building. Communities were responsible for many things that are now being controlled by profit-oriented enterprises. The state wants to express its power and God- or people-given order. Business wants to keep it cheap. That's the whole story :)

@Michael: Vergleiche das mal mit dem Bonner Post-Tower von heute; der ist zwar auch imposant (wenn man direkt davor steht), architektonisch aber völlig belanglos, läßt seine Funktion nicht mal erraten, kommuniziert nicht mit seiner Umwelt (außer sie zu spiegeln), sieht mit seinen Glas- und Stahlmassen in fünfzig Jahren wahrscheinlich aus wie ausgek....

@akarui: To give buildings an 'oriental' touch was indeed a common practice at the beginning of the 20th century. Düsseldorf had an 'Arab' café, quite a fanciful architecture! :-D