UIA Berlin 2002 Student Competition Explanation of #002032BE [Anne Brecker, Tim Ahrens] 100,000 empty flats, 50,000 empty offices and the task to eliminate 35 hectares of inner city peripheral area. How can the value of the site be increased? To produce even more town does not make sense in Berlin at the moment. The value of a site does not only consist in its buildings. Void can be even more valuable: “Where there is nothing everything is possible, where there is architecture nothing (else) is possible.” [1] The formulation of “highly charged nothingness” [2], the design of emptiness becomes a substantial part of our design. Borders and Potentials Until now the S-Bahn and the canal cut off the area from its surroundings and it does not make sense to eliminate these borders. For it will not be possible to integrate the site into surroundings that turn their back on it.        Nevertheless the associated area has a potential. The S-Bahn and the Federal Road represent an excellent connection with the town; many uses will find an ideal location near the Lehrter Bahnhof station. The Nordhafen and the canal obviously offer qualities: “The people who look for dwellings do not only seek protection against the cold and the rain and but also a view. They are willing to sacrifice considerable amounts of money for the mere view on water.” [3]        The zone close to the busy B96 is intended for commercial use. Offices or production facilities would be possible as well as a DIY super store or a supermarket. Directly at the Nordhafen there will be offices. The Ideal „Ja, das möchste: Eine Villa im Grünen mit großer Terrasse, vorn die Ostsee, hinten die Friedrichstraße; mit schöner Aussicht, ländlich-mondän, vom Badezimmer ist die Zugspitze zu sehn – aber abends zum Kino hast dus nicht weit.“ [4]        The spit of land demarcated by the canal and the newly created arm of water is intended predominantly for housing. As a “village in the town”, we imagine groups of two to four storey buildings that form closed edges. Large balconies, a view and gardens provide for quality of life. Another part of the dwellings will be built as lofts. Both types of buildings mix without any fixed borders.        In the south we adopt Max Dudler’s planning and extend it. Here an area of mixed uses should come into being. A Highly Charged Nothingness For the rest of the site it is difficult to determine a usage at once. An extensive use should occupy the area first and should ideally disappear later. A park, for example, would be out of the question since it would hardly be possible to change this usage later.        We suggest a building debris dump that consists only of 22 metre high walls in the beginning. These are slightly inclined towards the interior in order to define inside and outside. They develop some patina of moss over the years. We guess that during the next thirty to forty years this dump will fill up while the surrounding area is protected against noise and dirt. Inside there are ramps for the dumper trucks that can be used as drives later.        After the completion of this process the area as a whole will be available for new planning. It will even have gained in quality because of its elevated position. “The emptiness of the metropolis is not empty; each void can be used for those programs whose insertion is a procrustean effort leading to the mutilation of both activity and texture.” [5]        This effort is an attempt to think for the long term without already fixing concrete planning objectives. “Like a chess player one may try to assess the future course and to get favourable conditions for it by one’s own moves.” [6]        The future development of Berlin will determine what will be built on the platform. It is, therefore, not yet possible to provide exact plans for the latter’s later use. Visions On the basis of the favourable location a dense quarter of high buildings could develop, or alternatively – if the need for areas does not increase – a public park, or luxurious villas on the slope.        It would also be possible to imagine a use that requires a large area in the centre of the city. A space port has a direct connection to the geo transporters. A stadium and concert halls could turn the former dump into an entertainment park.        For this protected platform one could imagine the guest house of the federal government – maybe a reconstruction of a historic building? –, or a golf course or a monastery for future inhabitants of the big city searching for genuine fulfilment and community. 1  Rem Koolhaas, “To imagine nothingness”, in: L’architecture d’aujourd’hui, no. 238, april 1985, p. LXVII 2  Rem Koolhaas, as per 1 3  Fritz W. Kramer, “Hanglage mit Seeblick”, in: Karl Markus Michel et al. (eds.), Kursbuch neue Landschaften, march 1998, Berlin: Rowohlt, p. 8 4  extract from Kurt Tucholsky, “Das Ideal”, 1927 The Ideal // Yes, that’s what you want: // A villa in the country with a large terrace, // the Baltic at the front, the Friedrichstraße at the back; // with a nice view, rural and chic, // from the bathroom the Zugspitze can be seen – // but in the evening you don’t have to go far for the cinema. 5  Rem Koolhaas, as per 1 6  Philipp Oswalt, “Berlin – Stadt ohne Form: Strategien einer anderen Architektur”, München: Prestel, 2000, p. 119 [WWW.ARCHITEKTURGESTALTEN.INFO]