From Engine Shed to Cultural Center

urbanistic survey in the framework of the research program for Experimental Housing and Urban Development (ExWoSt) of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (BMVBS)



comissioned by: district of Friedrichshain/Kreuzberg, Berlin
organized by: tx-architekten, berlin
type: urbanistic survey, invited competition
date: october - november 2008
content: transforming a former engine shed into a cultural center
status: completed, 3rd place - adjacent buildings are torn down, engine shed remains unrenovated and empty (27.01.2010)
work group: johanna kuna, martin schwegmann



The engine shed lies in a brownfield, the former wriezener bahnhof in Berlin Friedrichshain/Kreuzberg, next to the well know club Berghain. The former railway area is getting converted into a community park. Through the federal ExWOSt program a participatory design process is financed, in which the reformed engine shed is to play a crucial role. Momentarily the fallow area of the park, the so-called wriezener freiraum labor (wriezener freespace lab), comprises different uses: BMX Bumptrack, School Garden, Basketball Cage, Freifunkhain (W-Lan Accesspoints)



The engine shed was meant to form a meeting point for the locals in the near by quarter. The meeting point had to meet the needs of people of all generations and be able to enhance the communication between young and old.


The greatest challenge was the very tight budget in connection with the potentially high adaptation cost of the old industrial building to its new use. Therefore we proposed a very soft intervention with only the renovation of the lower part of the building, an annex for office and toilets and a staircase plus terrace, which would connect the lower with the upper part of the building, securing a fire exit and yet forming an attractive outdoor space, we called it sun set peer, which would potentially attract people from inside and outside the close surrounding.


The transformation of the building was to take part in different phases in order to acquire potentially more budget over time, involve the people in the area and find somebody to run the place. In a third, optional phase, we proposed to renovate the adjacent buildings, which the building authority wanted to be torn down. In order to run the place effectively we thought the extra space would be very important to have. On top of that, one of  the buildings, which was mainly financed by the district (Bezirksamt) just some years ago, had strong potentials as a venue for sports, culture and meetings.


a Midsummer ´Night´s Dream (new staircase could serve as an outdoor stage)



The upper part of the building was to be rebuild walk-able sculpture in order to keep the insulation regulation at minimum.


The suns set pier, the terrace were old and young could meet and enjoy the spectacular view



We were asked to look for sustainable ways of dealing with electricity, heating and water. Given the fact, that next to the engine shed a huge wholesale is situated, our idea was to use a heat pump, in order to use the heat produces from the cooling of the wholesale. The use of rain and sun for water and electricity was obvious.



above you see the potential sports hall, mentioned above, which is now torn down

a new quarter in the heart of berlin

urbanistic survey for former berlin wall area,
commissioned by the district Berlin Mitte


type: urbanistic survey, invited competition
date: april to october 2008
content: development of a strategy and possible housing typology for a new quarter on the former no man´s land of the Berlin wall in Berlin Mitte (Centre) in the area of alte Jakobstraße and Alexandrienen Straße (near Metro Spittelmarkt)
status: completed, 3rd place
workgroup: KUNSTrePUBLIK, Urban Passion, ifau


In an urbanistic survey, commissioned by the municipality of Berlin/Mitte, we were invited to develop a new utilization and building concept for an area within the margins of the former death strip of the berlin wall between alte Jakob Straße, Alexandrinen- and Stallschreiber Straße. Within an interdisciplinary team of artists and architects we first organized interviews and talks with local inhabitants and external experts in an specially created vehicle. These talks formed a decisive basis of our proposal.




invited experts:

Klaus Overmeyer, landscape architect, urban catalyst studio, expert for bottom up planning

Horst Pfander, stattbau.de & Selbstbau Kreuzberg, expert for self-organized building

Winfried Härtel, Wohnprojekte-Berlin.info, expert for house builder groups

Berthold Becker, JonesLang LaSalle - Asset Management, expert for real estate development

Ralf Chille, TPA-berlin.de, Agentur für Quartiersmarketing, expert for place branding

Dr. Michael LaFont, id22, institute for creative sustainability, expert for alternative urban development

Christophe Kotanyi, AG-Kleinstlandwirtschaft und Gärten in Stadt und Land, expert for guerilla gardening and temporary uses

Alex Toland, Wrietzener Freiraumlabor Berlin, expert for guerilla gardening and temporary uses

The expert talks with their fruitful discussions created substantial input for our concepts.

Our key concepts:
-development in phases, small parcels,
-openness of identity = the possibility of experiments
-necessity of a program jump start, an initial spark
-connected, and accessible green spaces with individual use


The mix of "formal" and "informal" uses should be given in order to start right away with a diverse multiplicity of players in order to give the place a rather unique profile.
What do we mean by formal and informal uses? Formal once are those which are rather permanent and need high investment such as housing. Less permanent and less investment intensive uses like gardening, temporary workspaces, cultural venues we see as informal uses. Less permanent refers to the character of the spacial intervention following the use. Nevertheless we regard these uses as very important to shape the original character of the quarter.


In order to give smaller investors the chance to build and
also to get a better mix of users, our concept foresees relatively small parcels and the development in phases, in order to avoid a permanent building site. The aim is, to complete intact parts. That makes a long development phase bearable.

Concerning a possible architecture for the area we developed relatively flexible floor plan solutions which facilitate multi family uses. We try to keep the green spaces as big, connected and accessible as possible within the tight framework of the task.