1936-1939 Prora Beach Resort is build. Prora is located on the island of R체gen, Germany. The building extend 4,5 kilometres and was planned as a holiday resort, though it never was used for this purpose. 1939-1945 With the onset and during World War II, all building on Prora stopped. The complex was then used for refuge during the Allied bombing campaign. By the end of the war, the complex housed female auxiliary personnel for the German Luftwaffe. 1945-1955 The Soviet Army had control of the region and used Prora as a military base. Two of the housing block was demolished. 1956-1990 The East German military rebuilt several of the buildings. The formation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1956, made the building a restricted military area and were used for Parachute combat training. 1990-1992 The Military Technical School of the Bundeswehr used some parts of the building. 1992-1994 Part of the building was used for housing asylum seekers from the Balkans. In 1993 parts of the building were subject to decay and vandalism. 1995-2006 From 1995-2005 part of the building was Prora Center, which housed several museums. Since 2004, the blocks of the building have been sold individually for different uses. 2008 Plans were approved to have Prora fill its original purpose and to turn it into a modern tourist resort. KDF Seaside Prora Resort 1 : 20.000 Finished building Ruins Does not exist
Unit 2+3d - AL! A Laboratory S14 Julie Bertelsen, 6th semester -in collaboration with Morten Bilde Houg책rd Student ID: 2011207
2011 The largest youth hostel of Germany, Prora Zentrum opens, a non-profit organization, which deals with the regional history of the national socialist times and the GDR history in Prora.
Program sheet
Spatial Transitions
Introduction Arriving to Prora was quite an experience. Part of the resort was only leftover ruins, where the fence didn’t really invite you to have a close-up look on the façade, but only let you have a look from a further distance with signs of danger.
The vertical space in the stairwell somehow introduced to a less communicated space between each level, but with somewhat extension into the courtyard could turn out to something much more spatial and fundamental for communication.
The building where Prora-Zentrum was located at, was the exact opposite of the ruins. It was nice, clean, and white and had no marks of the history of war, military, or any kind of German history written on the façade, only anonymous bright colors and institutional interior as in a kindergarten was placed. It was like a mask on a face with no expressions at all.
Using ramps to work as circulation in the building, but also for shorter vs. longer stay within, and to make this cramped worm penetrate the building and mark the raw historical spots to exhibit and tell the story of Prora. This ramp is meant both for the public to interfere in the life of the students and for the students to be inspired and connect on different levels.
Moving to the last part of the Prora resort was the more preserved ruins, where we had access to walk around in. This was an amazing experience and let us really close to the atmosphere of what was supposed to have been a (propaganda) summer holiday beach resort.
The act of artform: Architects; form-giving, aesthetic, practical, social, curious.
Dealing with a structure in decay reveals great tectonic potential in preserving parts of the old history, while re-enforcing what is already there, and adding an intervention, which consist of a more lightweight material we chose this to be the part we wanted to apply our transformation to.
Transformational intervention During the initial research on-site in Prora, the chosen courtyard to make the intervention, were made due to several things. The chosen building were selected partly because of its finished construction and despite decay and vandalism, still a building with its structural system in order and potentials to re-enforce the functional parts with a new structure. Having a closer look inside the building and at the different courtyards I was so enthralled by the continuity of the spaces of the building (inside)/courtyard (outside)/ building (inside)/courtyard (outside) and so on, to each side of where I was standing. The courtyard was not a space where any interesting was taking place but a space to park the car or make nature grow wild, which I found strange. The courtyard I found interesting was one with a door to enter the wing of building, entering the staircase, a circulation area. Walking up the stairwell on every level there was the above-mentioned feeling of continuity overlapping outdoor and indoor spaces.
The act of transformation: Infiltration; to enter, to gain access to, penetrate… The choice of infiltration as my transformation is because I’m interested in the overlap and meeting between the old building and the new applied and how the relation between the courtyard and the building communicates.
The choice of having architect students inhabitants in the building is because an architect would always be curious about the space they inhabit and how they themselves can be a part of process of inhabitation.
The intentional investigations The intension is to deal with the issue of the non-existing interaction between the courtyard and the building. The investigation will deal with the choice of materials in the meeting between new and old, how to preserve the existing and re-enforce the historical layers, by adding a contrast where the new structure infiltrates, so that it will have certain markings in the changing from existing and the transformed. These historical layers of materials are of great tectonic value, and it is important to secure parts of the old history with a treatment of respect, so that it will have traces of the old structure in the new one. What are going to be influential in the project are the spatial investigations where focus will be on the transition between courtyard and building, new and old, private and public spaces and the meeting of the two transformations. The concept of these transitions will conduct open spaces with multiple views and having physically and visually connections to the public because of developed systems of ramps. The project is developed through a series of investigations, which includes models and drawings. The two transformations meet The project is seen as one common project, having both a parasite and infiltration transforming the building. The initial programs according to each art form are intended to share some common facilities, but developed individually according to the need of the art form, and the spatial transitions between old and new and the transition in-between the two transformations.