Berlin - Urban Architecture and Daily Life since 2009

Urban Architecture and Daily Life Since 2009

Structural design: Buro Happold

Completion: 2018/2019/2021

Area: Building approx. 400 m2

Use: Culture, education

Lilienthalstrasse 32, Kreuzberg �� floating-berlin.org @floatinguniversity

raumlaborberlin

Half Planned, Half Improvised Floating University

Since 2018, Berlin’s first university built on piles has been located right across from the site of the former Tempelhof Airport airfield, nestled between sports fields and an allotment garden colony. Its architecture is as unusual as the location and the concept of the Floating University – which, as mandated by the Berlin Senate, is no longer allowed to call itself a university and has since written its name with the word crossed out.

What at first glance may look like a forgotten frog pond is actu ally one of the rainwater retention basins built in the 1930s to drain the Tempelhof airfield during heavy rainfall. The basins still function today: when it rains, a pond forms, slowly draining into the Landwehr Canal.

For security reasons, the site remained closed for more than 80 years; this enabled the development of a unique ecosystem with myriad plant, animal, and algae species. It is a place full of paradoxes: oddly removed from the city yet located in the city center, created by humans and reclaimed by na ture, a hybrid between a dystopian vision of the future and a contemporary jungle paradise.

The architecture collective raumlaborberlin has already dealt with the vast open space of Tempelhofer Feld and its possibilities for appropria tion in the past. Among other things, they organized a Do-It-Yourself World Exhibition for artists there in 2012. This is also how the collective came across the rainwater basin. By 2018, they had developed a concept for its temporary use as an “offshore campus” for dialogue on the future of cities. Raumlabor invited cooperation partners, including 25 European universities, and submitted funding applications. Then began the construction of an initial basic structure comprising timber buildings, walkways, platforms, seating, and gathering areas stretching across the shallow basin. Open wooden structures, some of them with multiple levels, are supplemented with scaffolding and plastic elements as well as fabric for sun and rain pro tection.

Half planned, half improvised, a robust raw structure was created that constantly changes according to the skills and desires of its users. Every year, new versions or interpretations of the university emerge, like a song covered by different performers. A diverse program quickly devel oped, featuring concerts, readings, discussions, workshops, film screenings, barbecues, dance performances, nature tours, and sports courses. A non-profit association was established to turn the temporary facility into a permanent one. In 2021, at the Architecture Biennale in Venice, Floating University received the festival’s highest award, the Golden Lion. The exemplary project shows how residual urban spaces can be conquered, activated, interpreted, and implemented in multiple ways with little intervention. Nevertheless, its future is uncertain, as the state-owned Tempelhof Projekt GmbH and the municipal district would prefer to see the temporary structures removed. Paradoxically, its success and popularity seem to be the project’s biggest threat. fh

Site plan Scale 1:2,000

The educational campus that occupies the rainwater retention basin at the

former Tempelhof Airport is a constantly changing, do-it-yourself structure.

For decades, the rainwater retention basin lay dormant. Then a diverse group led by raumlaborberlin showed how

urban wasteland could be infused with a new identity, even on a small budget.

Clients: UTB Projektmanagement (Am Lokdepot 1–5, 9, 11–12), Grundstücksverwaltungsgesellschaft Heyden (Am Lokdepot 6), private building group (Am Lokdepot 7/8 and 10)

Structural design: ARUP Germany, IB-bauArt Berlin, Ingenieurbüro Doliva Landscape design: Atelier Loidl, Lohrengel Landschaft Completion: 2017 Area: Approx. 19,000 m2

Use: Residential, studios, commercial, restaurants

Housing units: Approx. 220

Robertneun

Show Your Colors Am Lokdepot

In the 2000s, a 20,000-square-meter lot was still vacant at the southern end of Park am Gleisdreieck, located on the border between the districts of Schöneberg and Kreuzberg in a north-south direction along a busy railroad track. Because of the noise, the land around the two former halls of the locomotive depot – flat industrial buildings made of steel and brick – was designated as a commercial area. An investor asked Robertneun Architects for a design study. At their own risk, the architects came up with three possibilities, one of which was residen tial. They recognized the potential of this location with its wide view over the tracks and the adjacent sports fields: A more open horizon is hard to find in Berlin. With their residential proposal, they won over the

investor and then the two districts, which made the necessary changes in the urban development plan so it could be built.

Robertneun drew up design specifications for the whole row of 15 houses and around 220 apartments, plus commercial spaces, a bar, and studios on the first floor. In addition to the investor’s classic condomini ums, two houses were allocated to building groups. The basic structure comprises plots of equal depth and 7, 14, or 21 meters wide; the architects speak of S, M, and L. The different sizes enabled a wide range of apartment typologies and sizes. All buildings share the same urban base of red brick, which compensates for the height differences of up to 7 meters along the entire length. The architects also specified the materials to be used and the shades of red for pigmented concrete, metal, and recycled bricks – tones derived from the industrial environment, particularly from the architecture of the old locomotive depot.

Seven of the 15 buildings were designed by Robertneun and demon strate the architectural possibilities within the specifications. At the base level, the entrances celebrate the imposing floor heights with massive entrance gates and oversized house numbers. The six floors above offer a variety of housing types, even in the narrowest of buildings: one-bedroom apartments that can be connected to neighboring duplexes if needed, full-length apartments, and apartments with interlocking split levels. The facades reflect the diversity inside, be it with a metal shelf installed in front of the house for deep loggias or balconies that protrude far from the facade. Their bold red color does not at all seem like a provocation but appears surprisingly natural. fh

The architects also developed the site plan. Aiming for a mix of housing types, they divided the long row into plots of different widths: size S for multilevel living around a two-story loggia; size M for single-floor apartments with a freight

elevator and balcony as a second escape route; and size L with multi-unit apartments with winter gardens and cantilevered balconies.

Sample unit arrangement, upper floor

Ground floor

Third floor

Fourth floor

Fifth floor

Sixth floor

Am Lokdepot 1: Isometric, floor plans, apartments Scale 1:400

Clients: Lobe Block /Olivia Reynolds and Elke Falat

Structural design: Pichler Ingenieure Site supervision: Muck Petzet Architekten

Completion: 2018 Area: 2,800 m2

Use: Studios, offices, restaurant

Brandlhuber + Emde, Burlon, Muck Petzet Architekten

Logic of Indeterminacy Lobe Block Terrace House

The Lobe Block is a cheerful, neo-brutalist concrete mountain that fits surprisingly well into its heterogeneous surroundings in Wedding. The client Olivia Reynolds had approached the architects Arno Brandlhuber, Thomas Burlon, and Markus Emde with the request to design a flex ible-use studio building, whose spaces she wanted to fill with select tenants from the creative industries. It was to have enough common areas to allow group creativity to emerge and potentially be used for residential purposes. Reynolds had found a plot of land in an industrial area less than 100 meters from the Gesundbrunnen train station. The three architects, who with their office b+ often collaborate with exter nal partners on a project-by-project basis, worked on this project with Muck Petzet Architekten.

Together, they developed the basic form of a stepped building for the deep site, with deep floors lit only from the north and south. To the east, the new building adjoins the 40-meter-long firewall of the neighboring building; to the west, its closed concrete wall serves as a new firewall. The curved property boundary becomes a rugged relief with vertical offsets. Attached to each floor is a 6-meter-wide terrace. Facing south, they connect almost seamlessly with the interior through a glass facade with floor-to-ceiling sliding doors. Two sculptural staircases connect these ter races to form a semi-public space. These spaces serve as meeting places, where tenants meet on their way to their studio or office, during breaks, or at events on the terrace. When it rains, the water runs down the sloping terrace surfaces and stairs, transforming the building into a giant rock with a flowing waterfall. Towards the street in the north, the terracing at the rear forms a negative: The double-height ground level recedes 7.50 meters from the road, creating a covered forecourt beneath the projecting upper floors. The main access leads through a wide passage to the garden side and the two outdoor staircases.

According to the architects, the “logic of indeterminacy” applies both inside and out. Although the building is designed for commercial use, the visible installations and lightweight walls made of plasterboard or mar itime pine plywood allow for easy conversion to residential use at any time. Each unit has connections for kitchens and bathrooms, and all building code requirements for residential buildings were considered, such as fire protection and energy-saving regulations. Inside, the boundaries between living and working, inside and outside, community and privacy become blurred. The architecture asks its users not to take these limits for granted but to find them individually and shape the space according to their own needs – and to adapt it again and again. fh

Block Terrace House Brandlhuber + Emde, Burlon, Muck Petzet Architekten

EditorsFlorian Heilmeyer, Sandra Hofmeister

AuthorsFlorian Heilmeyer (fh), Sandra Hofmeister (sah), Jasmin Jouhar (jj), Norman Kietzmann (nk), Barbara Zettel (bz)

InterviewsDavid Chipperfield, Tanja Lincke, Matthias Sauerbruch

Project managementSandra Hofmeister

Editorial teamMichaela Busenkell, Michelle Grau, Charlotte Petereit, Jasmin Rankl, Marlene Schwemer

TranslationAlisa Kotmair

ProofreadingMeriel Clemett

Graphic designstrobo B M (Matthias Friederich, Luis Schneider, Julian von Klier)

Architectural drawingsLisa Hurler, Barbara Kissinger

Production and DTPRoswitha Siegler, Simone Soesters

ReproductionLudwig Media, AT–Zell am See Printing and BindingSchleunungdruck GmbH, Marktheidenfeld

PaperMunken Lynx zartweiß 120 g, Bengali light green 80 g (content), FLY ultra white 400 g (cover)

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Image Credits: Adenis, Pierre, p. 28/29 Alberts, Andrew, p. 140 –147 Bitter, Jan, p. 16/17, 90 – 96, 132, 133, 160 top, 160 bottom, 165 top, 188 –193, 274, 277, 278/279, 280 bpk /Berlinische Galerie / Hermann Rückwardt, p. 55 bpk /Geheimes Staatsarchiv, SPK, p. 264 top bpk /Kunstbibliothek, SMB, Photothek Willy Römer/  Willy Römer, p. 58 bpk /Kupferstich Kabinett, SMB /Jörg P. Anders, p. 52 bpk /Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, ART+COM, p. 54 bpk /Zentralarchiv, SMB, p. 42, 46 bottom, 57 brandt+simon, p. 217– 218 Bredt, Marcus, p. 270, 273 Brundert, Bernd, p. 125 top Brüning, Verena, p. 194, 200 Castro, Diego, p. 120

Crabbe, Matthew, p. 308 – 313 Ebener, Marcus, p. 205 Eichner, Tina, Solutions, p. 20 Esch, HG, p. 324, 328, 330/331 FHXB FriedrichshainKreuzberg Museum © S.T.E.R.N. GmbH, p. 156

Friedel, Andreas, p. 166 –173 Gardiner, Rory, p. 242, 245 top

Gehrke, Andreas, p. 222– 232 Ghinitoiu, Laurin, p. 128/129, 256 – 263, Ghinitoiu, Laurin courtesy OMA, p. 248 – 255

Goodwin, Marc, p. 101 Huthmacher, Werner, p. 148, 152 –155, 160 center, 210 – 215, p. 288 – 292

IMAGO /Jens Schicke, p. 267 top IMAGO /Günter Schneider, p. 267 bottom

Koenning, Nils, p. 327 top, 329 bottom Kojima, Yasu, p. 246

Küenzlen, Martin, p. 159

Landesarchiv Berlin, F Rep. 290 (02) Nr. 0025804/photo: Kiel, Willy, p. 269 bottom Landesarchiv Berlin, F Rep. 290 (02) Nr. 0073327/photo: Sass, Bert, p. 264 bottom Lanoo, Julien, p. 82 – 89 Löffelhardt, Markus, p. 165 bottom

McMahon, Benjamin, p. 300 Meckel, Dawin, p. 106, 111, 112/113

Meinel, Udo, p. 114, 182 –186 Menges, Simon, p. 62, 66/67, 68, 174 –181, 294, 297 bottom, 298 bottom Mørk, Adam, p. 236/237

Müller, Jörg F. (bpk), p. 117, 118 Nast, Michael, p. 219 – 221 Neusser, Peter, p. 284 Norlander, Rasmus, p. 247 Noshe, p. 163, 198 –199, 202, 206 – 209 Obkircher, Philipp, p. 150 Ortner&Ortner, p. 74, 77, 79 top Overmeer, Erica, p. 318, 320, 321 Reyle, Anselm, p. 204 Richter Musikowski Architekten, p. 39 Richters, Christian, p. 282, 285 top, 287 top Rokitta, Christoph, p. 123 Rose, Corinne, p. 240/241 Sauerbruch Hutton, p. 102 Schink, Hans-Christian, p. 109 Schlegelmilch, Cordia, p. 125 bottom Schnepp Renou, p. 30, 33 – 38, 75, 76, 78, 80/81, 317, 322/323 Schöneberg, Marion for David Chipperfield Architects, p. 303, 306 Schuller, Jasmin, p. 130/131 Seifert, Daniel, p. 23 bottom Stark-Otto, p. 267 center Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloß /photo: Alexander Schippel, p. 60 Thalhofer, Martina, p. 72 Tomaschko, Victoria, p. 24, 27 Uhalde, Cèlia, p. 70/71

Von Becker, David, p. 64, 134, 137, 138, 314

Von Bruchhausen, Jörg, p. 46 top

Zanin, Marco, Fabrica, for Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, p. 18/19, 269 top Zintel, Urban, p. 98

Zscharnt, Ute, p. 164 Zscharnt, Ute for David Chipperfield Architects, cover, p. 40, 43 bottom, 44/45, 48, 49, 50/51, 65 top, 238/239, 297 top, 298 top, 305

All photos and drawings OMA, p. 249–255: © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2022

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