Berlin is the city where Tesserae was founded and also the main experimental field on which most of our members develop their research, networking and fieldwork. Through its tormented yet fascinating history this city has developed a huge number of urban practices and movements, giving ground to reflection and practical experimentation of possible alternative models. In our Atlas we try to give an account of some of these practices, both collecting cases where we worked in our projects and interesting initiatives and places that we keep under observation.
DRAGONER AREAL
Dragoner Areal is a key area in the heart of Kreuzberg, the nucleus of a Regeneration area (Sanierungsgebiet Rathausblock) that was planned to be sold to private investors and has been the object of a mobilisation of citizens against the privatisation.
Die Lause
The former glass factory located in Lausitzer Straße 10/11 in Berlin-Kreutzberg is a domestic community that best embodies the prototype of the so-called “Berlin mix”, whereby available spaces are equally distributed to allow for both their residential and commercial use.
Cuvrybrache
A wasteland along the Spree river, that soon became a place of refuge for those with no place in society. Evacuated from its informal inhabitants, the area has undergone restructuring to host a complex of luxury buildings.
HOHENSCHÖNHAUSEN
Hohenschönhausen is a district part of the borough of Lichtenberg. During the separation of the city, this borough of East Berlin was part of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Tesserae has developed participatory workshops with local residents on topics related to issues of a memory culture being documented by residents of the district themselves, promoting activities of community storytelling.
HAUS DER STATISTIK
Forgotten for almost a decade, the complex of buildings that once constituted the offices for the administration of statistics under the old socialist regime came to the center of the public discourse as a symbol of an across-the-board struggle for the right to the city of Berlin. Civic society actors and public stakeholders joined their efforts to put the unconditional selling of publicly-owned buildings to a halt, stressing the need to replace the monetary principle with the pursuing of the societal common good. The professionalization of bottom-up forms of activism claiming space for culture and diversity transformed the Haus der Statistik initiative into a large-scale project. This currently aims at regenerating the buildings to benefit local neighborhoods, refugees and cultural producers alike through the implementation of participatory practices of urban development.
HALLE (SAALE) – AM SÜDPARK
In 2012-1015 Laura Colini participated at IRS Leibnitz Institut in a research on Halle-Neustadt directed by Matthias Berndt and Daniel Först. This former East-German city has experienced two waves of privatization, leading to a complete change of ownership structures, marked by the rise of financial investors. Cuts have put increasing pressure on … Read more
PRINZESSINNENGARTEN – BERLIN
Starting from an urban gardening project, the experience of Prinzessinnengarten extended to a wide range of innovative practices, political stances and networking activities fostering a DIY integrated approach. Since 2020, the gardens occupy two distinct areas, both organized on principles of self-sufficiency, food-independence and social inclusivity: the original site located in Moritzplatz (Berlin-Kreuztberg) and the recent acquisition of San Jacobi cemetery (Berlin-Neukölln). The Prinzessinnengarten project promotes gardening as a practice of community building and social emancipation from urban neo-liberal dynamics, while also offering its visitors and members a wide range of cultural and educational activities aimed at sharing different forms of knowledge and skills and at raising consciousness on current ecological issues and social challenges.
MEHRINGPLATZ – SÜDLICHE FRIEDRICHSTADT
Suffering from its marginalized position during the years of the German division, the neighborhood was recognized and labelled as a deprived area in 2005 due to its low standards of economic development, its poor social integration and quality of life. These characteristics made the territory of Südliche Friedrichstadt a periphery in the centre of Berlin, as the area is located in the proximity of some of the city’s main attractive spots, such as the lively Mitte and the creative Friedrichschain-Kreutzberg. In a twenty-year time-span, a set of policies of local urban renewal has been gradually implemented to re-centralize the neighborhood, starting from the very re-centralization of the role of its residents in directly participating in small decision-making processes. This served to acknowledge, create and institutionalize their identity as a geo-social collectivity. Commercial, leasure and creative initiatives have begun to flourish in the area, projecting it as an emblem of juxtapositions and contradictory tendencies characterizing modern urban contexts, whereby transitions to new lifestyles are mediated by old identites and latent risks of gentrification, displacement and social conflicts.
KÖRNERKIEZ BERLIN
Once an unattractive place, formerly on the East-West border and at the periphery of public discourse, it has recently become an area of new interest for different social groups. Over the years it has welcomed a mainly Turkish community, but now young people from all over Europe are attracted to Neukölln by its affordable rents, and new bars, art galleries and trendy shops are appearing. However, rents are increasing dramatically, and Neukölln is showing signs of gentrification, which raises debates about the future of the district and its low-income inhabitants.
RAW-GELÄNDE FRIEDRICHSHAIN
A Prussian railway workshop, a Cold War industrial wasteland, a contemporary socio-cultural center in the heart of Berlin Friedrichshain. The area is emblematic of collective and informal processes of creative transfomation reinventing Berlin’s urban landscape. The R.A.W. in Berlin-Friedrichshain was originally serving as a railway workshop in the XIX century. After being damaged during World War II and undergoing various transformations, it became a neglected wasteland in post-unification Berlin. In 1999, the RAW-Tempel association repurposed the site for artistic and cultural activities, aiming to create a vibrant hub for creativity and community engagement. In 2015, the Kurth Group acquired ownership of R.A.W. and recognized its potential for investment and urban development. Unlike other financial actors, the new owner aimed to respect the site’s identity and socio-cultural programs, giving long-term residents more control over their pre-existing properties. Establishing a participatory approach to urban planning, new plans for the R.A.W. Tower, a 100-meter-tall building, was set to be constructed starting in 2024. The project is intended to blend with older activities, integrating new offices, green areas, markets, and other services, with the R.A.W.’s role as a cultural institution. However, concerns about power dynamics and possible future compromises between top and bottom interests revolving around the R.A.W. might still challenge the current collaborations between the community and external investors.
