architectureinberlin

This post won’t make much sense on its own, as it’s about a specific part of the Internationale Bauaustellung (IBA) Berlin 1987, an explanation of which is here.

Increasingly, I’m finding myself more interested in the Altbau element of the programme than the Neubau. the latter being the part of the IBA which is more like a traditional building Expo (iconic new buildings), the former being something a little different.  The theme of the Altbau programme was essentially the rescue of the severely rundown Kreuzberg borough of (then) West Berlin, achieved by refurbishing, and adding to, existing buildings in Berlin’s 19th century grid.  The project was huge, and provided new and renovated housing, self-build projects, schools, kindergartens, landscaping, streetscaping and parks.

Much of the architecture is unspectacular, some of it difficult to access, and many of the new building elements terribly unfashionable in terms of today’s neo-modernist orthodoxy (oops, getting a bit opinionated here).  But this element of the IBA was an important break with the urban planning policies that immediately preceded it; demonstrated very visibly if you compare the urban scorched-earth planning policy and tax evasion plans that created Kreuzberg’s Kottbusser Tor, with the nearby IBA-resuscitated areas.

I’ve written quite a few posts and pages on the Altbau projects, all of which should be linked to in the right hand column of this site. (There seems to be a fault with a coupl of the headers, which link you through to irrelevant pages, so ignore these!).  But a couple picked out at random, as I had the image links to hand:

Hinrich & Inker Baller’s new buildings and block refurbishment on Fraenkelufer, as part of Block 70:

and one of my favourites, an ingenious interweaving of new elements of a school into an existing block structure, by Werkfabrik architects in Block 101: