German drama studies the communist regime in the former East Germany through the eyes of an architect. A talented young architect in East Berlin before the collapse of the Berlin wall is charged with designing a small suburb. He dreams up a beautifully futuristic & accomplished design with a lightness of character perhaps out of step with the prevalent greyness of the times. Getting approval from dour city planners & against other competitors saps his enthusiasm & forces the progressively-minded designer into creeping disillusionment with the regime. Through his immersion in his plans, his marriage dissolves & furthermore the bureaucrats' callous dismissal of his plans conspire to push him down as far as a man can go.