Description

Can housing be a catalyst for urban development? The mixed-use housing project IbeB offers a compelling example of how such projects can address today’s fractured cities. The elongated block, the eastern tip of which points in the direction of the Jewish Museum, has residential units on all floors, even on the ground floor where their floor-to-ceiling glazing recalls the candid openness of housing in Amsterdam. One would be forgiven for asking whether residents really want passers-by to see them lounging on the sofa, and whether a curtain might not be in order? But the degree of urban exposure in such urban situations, and with it of personal privacy, can also be modulated by architectural details. Here a series of narrow access bridges cross the airspace between the pavement and the ground floor units, creating the necessary distance while also allowing light to permeate the studios below on the basement floor. The confrontation of private and public is a central theme of this building. And not just in the physical sense but also with respect to the diverse mix of uses – spaces for businesses, local services, ateliers and apartments – as well as for the mix of different ownership configurations, which range from self-build cooperatives and community-focussed agencies to businesses and regular homeowners.

In the space of just a few years, what began as concept proposal for the site has been developed into a pioneering building that derives its qualities from embracing the spatial conflicts that arise. The disjunctions in the urban fabric in this part of Berlin are primarily a consequence of the up to 12-storey-high 1970s housing blocks north of the Mehringplatz and the IBA strategy of the 1980s that attempted to negate this by propagating block perimeter building right up to the housing blocks. The new building is a programmatic hybrid: its glazed end, visible from afar, frames the new paved urban square, around which all kinds of commercial and cultural functions have congregated. But the fact that it protrudes into the urban space leaves it exposed on almost all sides to public space without the tiniest corner of green space or semi-public space for the apartments. This public space is particularly bleak to the rear of the block, where a storey-high security fence separates it from the Jewish Museum Academy.

So how does one provide communal areas for the residents in such situations? The real innovation of this building lies not in distributing it across numerous marble-lined reception halls but in creating a “Rue Intérieure” on the second floor that runs the length of the building and is the heart of the complex. Small gardens with seating areas punctuate it at intervals, and Álvaro Siza-like staircases ascend to the next higher level, from which one can catch a glimpse back down of the communal area.

That such an exemplary concept was even possible on such an urban site is the product of a fortuitous moment in history in which, after the building boom of the noughties, comparatively large, progressive residential projects were given the green light and then courageously implemented. A concept of this kind would be hard to realise at this location today. The political will is lacking, and land is now too expensive. Other residential projects in the surroundings are now only of the de-luxe type funded by global investment groups. This building on Berlin’s Lindenstrasse, however, shows what is possible when architectural and programmatic strategies are brought in line with each other. It serves as an exemplary model for sites on the urban periphery and shows how housing can act as a catalyst for the formation of new urban centres.

Originally published in Bauwelt 25.2018, pp. 24-39, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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