The BASF building

There are some buildings you walk past everyday, remark upon, and then don't give a further thought to. The BASF building near Warschauer Straße is one of those. The way its glass box shaped upper stories appear to be resting on two eaves of the brick house below means that it is landmark on the bridge between Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, but I've not come across it in a tourist guide. You probably won't heard of BASF but you'll more than certainly own something that contains their products. According to wikipedia, they are the largest chemical company in the world. From humble beginnings installing gas works for a local council in 1865, via links with the notorious IG Farben in the 30s and 40s, they now help make products such as plastic knives and forks, DVD cases, the foam in the seat of your car and herbicides that some of your food may be produced with. And in that way the products BASF helps make are a bit like its Berlin office, we see and use the final products every day but rarely think about whats inside.