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Courtyard Patterns Berlin Sanne de Vries Tutor: Nelson Mota Msc Graduation Studio ExploreLab 19 TU Delft Faculty of Architecture 2015
BergmannstraĂ&#x;e Kreuzberg
Berlin, Germany
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01. EMPHASIZED CORNER
Corners are often found to be cut off, which creates a certain square-like feel to street crossings. The building corners are often occupied by some kind of shop and emphasized by a slight elevation in height.
02. BASEMENTS
Originally, the basements used to provide the cheapest living option. Nowadays they are not suitable for residential use anymore and thus are used for a variety of functions such as shops, bars, restaurants and offices. They are often directly connected with the streets through little stairs.
03. GUTTERS
Gutters are consistently conceiled in between housing blocks, hidden away yet delicately marking the boundary between two blocks.
04. COLLECTIVE STREET ENTRANCES
Each housing block of about 30 dwelling units has one collective entrance at the street side, which then leads to several (usually two) vertical circulation points.
05. TUNNEL VISION
Before reaching the vertical circulation points leading to the apartments, one has to cross a passage that leads to a set of stairs and to the courtyard.
06. SPLIT LEVEL ENTRANCES
With the basements half sunken into ground level, the first level above has always to be reached by stairs. This is a multipurpose element that creates seating, corners, etc.
07. COLLECTIVE WASTE COLLECTION
Segregation of garbage is extremely important in Berlin, which takes a lot of space. This is organised effectively through collective waste collection inside the courtyard. Often a certain kind of fencing is constructed and sometimes even (green) coverage, to avoid ugly courtyard views.
08. BERLINER ZIMMER
A typical feature of the Berliner courtyard is the so-called ‘Berliner Zimmer’; an incision in the inner corner of the building. This way daylight is allowed also in the more problematic parts of the building. Often these spaces invite activity; sometimes the niche on the ground floor is used for seating/bins or balconies are added to the apartments.
09. ADDED STRUCTURES
Originally, comfort like balconies and elevators were not part of the living standards inside the mietskasernen; people could hardly afford one room for the whole family. Now, improvisation exists of added structures, often steel, sometimes filling up the interior corners.
10. BIKE PARKING
Bikes are much used vehicles in Berlin. The courtyard provides a safe and spatious parking environment. Typically a specific part of the courtyard is marked for parking, and just like garbage collection it can be considered as one of the yard's primary uses.
11. GREEN FACADES
A common sight in the courtyards of Kreuzberg is the green facade. They ask for few maintenance and are highly effective in creating green views. The most common plants used are ivy and the vineyard - the latter of which colors beautifully red during fall.
12. FRAMING OF BOUNDARIES
A sequence of courtyards is in this case interconnected, each with their own character and functions. Through bundling multiple yards and functions together effectively, space is created for other activities such as growing plants, playing, relaxing etc. The courtyards are clearly seperated through a passageway.
13. GREEN INITIATIVES
The municipality of Berlin is stimulating greening of the courtyard. This is a good starting point for the mindset of residents; they often find the municipality not doing enough and take gardening into their own hands. This way, green initiatives become meaningful not only climatically (as it is being promoted) but also socially.
14. GARDEN SEATING
Often, seating is found along a boundary, even more preferably in a corner - an unexposed spot from where the open space can be observed. Also, it is often a markant spot, marked by features such as trees, laterns, etc. It is an absolutely essential element in the recreational courtyard.
15. HEIGHT DIFFERENCES
Height differences are inherent in the Berliner block, as for entering the building one has to go either half a level up or down. It is also used to differentiate spaces in a clever way; it doesn’t form visual obstruction yet creates multiple spaces out of one, where corners and stairs are an integral of the whole.
16. PLAYGROUNDS
The courtyard provides the ideal environment for playing children; outside in the fresh air yet safelty protected from the outside world. A high level of social security is always provided. This is why the playground can be seen as a reoccuring use of the courtyard.